- 


THE  VICTORS 


uiNIV.  OF  CALIF.  LitiltAitY.  LOS 


TAKE    THIS    SHANTY    JUST    AS    SHE    STANDS,' 

SAID  THE  BOSS." — Page  540. 


THE  VICTORS 

A    ROMANCE    OF    YESTERDAY 
iMORNING  &  THIS    AFTERNOON 

By      ROBERT      BARR 

AUTHOR     OF    "IN     THE     MIDST    OF    ALARMS," 
"TEKLA,"   "A    WOMAN    INTERVENES,"    ETC. 

To   the  Victors  belong  the 
spoils.  —  WILLIAM  L.  MARCY 

4/ 

L2oi 

NEW  YORK    •   FREDERICK  A.   STOKES 
COMPANY          PUBLISHERS 

UNIV.  OF  CALIF.  LffiRAK  ANGELES 


COPYRIGHT,  1901, 
BY  ROBERT  BARR. 


COPYRIGHT,  1901. 
BY  FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY. 


CONTENTS. 


BOOK  I. 

CLEARING   FOR  ACTION. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  "  Each  new-hatched,  unfledged  comrade  " i 

II.  "  He'll  turn  your  current  in  a  ditch  "  19 

III.  "  Let  me  buy  your  friendly  help  " 36 

IV.  "  I  have  flattered  a  lady  " 54 

V.  "  Doing  nothing  for  a  bribe  " 67 

VI.  "  His  dishonesty  appears  " 83 

VII.  "  Buy  'em  to  sell  again  " 90 

VIII.  "  I  and  my  partner  " 101 

IX.  "  You  charge  me  most  unjustly" 118 

X.  "  Rides  the  wild  mare  with  the  boys  " 130 

XI.  "  They  are  thrifty,  honest  men  " 154 

BOOK  TI. 

THE    FOOT   OF   THE    SLOPK. 

I.  "  Journeys  end  in  lovers' meeting  " 165 

II.  "  A  stranger  in  this  city  here  " 182 

III.  "  Mark  his  first  approach  before  my  lady  " 199 

IV.  "  I  sat  upon  a  promontory  and  heard  a  mermaid  " 216 

V,  "  First,  sir,  I  pray,  what  is  your  title  ? " 225 

VI.  "  I  have  a  bag  of  money  here  that  troubles  me  " 235 

VII.  "  My  surveyor  is  false  " 250 

VIII.  "  A  rare  engineer " •-. 257 


vil 


2125544 


viii  Contents. 

BOOK  III. 

BEGINNING   THE   GAME. 
CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  "  This  might  be  the  pate  of  a  politician  " 263 

II.  "  We  quarrel  in  print  " 274 

III.  "  But  he,  sir,  had  the  election  " 280 

IV.  "  Sack  great  Rome  with  Romans  " 298 

BOOK  IV. 

THE   HILL   OF   ENDEAVOUR. 

I.  "  That  were  a  trick  indeed  " 310 

II.  "  By  a  sealed  compact,  well  ratified  " 321 

III.  "  The  devil  shall  have  his  bargain  ". 332 

IV.  "  Your  exposition  on  the  holy  text  " 341 

V.  "  When  did  you  lose  your  daughter  ?" 353 

VI.  "  Give  me  leave  to  prove  you  a  fool  " 362 

VII.  "  Fortune's  furious  fickle  wheel  " 363 

VIII.  "  I  do  desire  some  confidence  " 372 

IX.  "  A  gracious  person" 381 

X.  "  Her  hair  is  auburn  " 386 

XI.  "  Sweet  husband,  be  not  of  that  mind  " 393 

XII.  "  There  is  money ;  spend  it  " 400 

XIII.  "  What,  wilt  thou  flout  me  thus?" 408 

BOOK  V. 

SPOILS   TO   THE   VICTORS. 

I.  "  They  are  so  linked  in  friendship  " 417 

II.  "  Fortune  and  victory  sit  on  thy  helm  " 426 

III.  "  Fire  that  severs  day  from  night 438 

IV.  "  God's  will !  what  wilf ulness  is  this  ?"....    444 

V.  "  What  tell'st  thou  me  of  robbing  ?  " 449 


Contents.  ix 

CHAPTER  PACK 

VI.  "  Turns  insurrection  to  religion  " 455 

VII.  "  And  sweet  religion  makes  a  rhapsody  of  words  " 464 

BOOK  VI. 

ON   THE   SUMMIT. 

I.  "  I  am  come  to  fetch  you  home  " .....   472 

II.  "  Despatch  all  business  and  begone  " 484 

* 

III.  "  Dashed  out  with  a  Grecian  club  " 491 

IV.  "  To  leave  you  in  your  madness  " 500 

V.  "  Madam,  this  is  mere  distraction  " 5°6 

VI.  "  O  God  defend  me !  how  am  I  beset !  " 4'6 

VII.  "  Will  rain  hot  vengeance  on  offenders  " 523 

VIII.  "  Make  a  scarecrow  of  the  law  " S29 

IX.  "  Why,  then,  let's  home  again  " 541 

X.  "  With  their  tongues  doom  men  to  death  " 549 

XI.  "  From  Cupid's  shoulder  " 561 


THE  VICTORS 


BOOK  I 
CLEARING  FOR  ACTION 


CHAPTER    I 

"  EACH  NEW-HATCHED,  UNFLEDGED  COMRADE  *' 

IT  had  been  a  panting  hot  day  ;  a  day  when  those  who 
could  sought  shelter  of  shade,  while  those  cottipelletl 
to  work  stopped  often  and  shook  the  dripping'  perspi- 
ration from  their  brows.  The  heat  seemed  to  hang 
quivering  in  the  air,  abating,  yet  Hot  appearing  to 
abate  ;  Mithras,  god  of  light,  the  cause  of  it  all,  burned 
red  in  the  west,  and,  like  an  impressionist  painter  reck- 
lessly lavish  with  his  Colours^  had  prodigally  splashed 
all  the  far  horizon  with  gold  and  crimson,  while  as  the 
&Uh  sank  still  lower  behind  a  radiant  cloud  its  fays 
were  flung  into  the  sky  like  the  spokes  of  A  gigantic 
wheel  of  glory;  or  if  the  sex  of  the  simile  be  changed 
and  Mithras  be  transformed  into  a  goddess,  this  deity 
of  the  day  coquettishly  prepared  to  leaVe  the  scene  of 
her  tmtmphs,  flirting  open  a  fan  of  dazzling  gossa- 
mer Irefore  making  the  farewell  bow  and  quitting  for  the 
night  her  throne  in  the  heavens. 

Two  very  young  men  lay  prone  oti  their  backs  in  a 
fence  corner.  The  grass  under  them  was  parched,  dry 
and  warm,  providing  a  comfortable  couch.  Straw  hats 
with  broad  brims  somewhat  ragged  at  the  rim  con^- 
cealed  the  two  faces,  but  the  buzzing  flies  bothered 
the  boys,  who  sometimes  struck  out  Wildly  at  them, 
like  men  warding  off  danger  in  drowsiness.  If  a 
blow  of  this  kind  removed  the  hat,  its  owner  groped 

i 


2  The  Victors 

i 

for  it  dreamily  and  drew  it  over  his  face  again.  At 
last  the  elder  of  the  two  rose  to  a  sitting  posture, 
letting  his  hat  slide  to  the  ground,  and  passed  his  shirt 
sleeve  across  his  bedewed  brow,  drawing  a  deep  breath 
as  he  did  so.  His  was  a  clean-cut  face,  beaming  with 
intelligence  and  glorified  with  a  latent  touch  of  en- 
thusiasm. A  young  man  with  such  a  face  might  be- 
come anything — a  revivalist  preacher  whose  throb- 
bing words  would  sweep  thousands  toward  repentance ; 
a  statesnran  holding  empire  in  his  hands ;  a  college  pro- 
fessor Woulding  the  untrained  ambitions  of  young 
men ;  a  politician,  perhaps ;  a  speculator,  maybe ;  but 
whatever  sphere  of  activity  the  future  reserved  for 
him,  he  would  be  an  enthusiast  always,  ever  believing 
fervently  in  himself  and  his  cause,  and  yet  a  dreamer 
too — there  lay  a  danger  to  his  success — a  dreamer  and 
a  theorist,  who  might  not  be  able,  with  the  alchemy 
of  practicality,  to  transmute  the  abstract  into  the  real. 
No  lines  marked  or  marred  his  smooth  face ;  it  was  as 
yet  an  unwritten  page ;  but  there  glowed  from  it  the 
steady  white  light  of  promise,  like  the  effect  of  a  lamp 
behind  a  frosted  pane. 

"  Jim,  you  lazy  beggar,  get  up  and  look  at  this  sun- 
set." 

Jim,  his  fingers  interlaced  behind  the  back  of  his 
head,  did  not  move,  but  drowsily  murmured : 

"  What's  a-matter  with  it  ?  "  the  words  coming  sleepily 
from  under  the  tattered  brim  of  the  straw  hat. 

"  Matter  with  it  ?  Nothing,  except  that  it's  simply 
glorious ;  looks  like  a  glimpse  of  the  gates  of  hea^n." 

Jim  disentangled  his  fingers,  stretched  his  arms  as 
far  as  they  would  go,  and  yawned  wearily ;  then,  still 
gaping  prodigiously  at  the  risk  of  a  broken  jaw,  arose 
slowly. 

"  Fine  open  countenance,  Jim,"  said  his  comrade, 
which  remark,  being  an  old  and  well-worn  phrase,  Jim 
ignored,  glanced  at  the  sunset  and  said : 

"  It's  going  to  be  another  hot  day  to-morrow." 

Jim's  eyes  speedily  fell  from  the  glowing  sunset  to 
the  earth,  and  now,  in  spite  ot  the  heat,  some  energy  in- 


"  Each  new-hatched,  unfledged  comrade  "     3 

fused  itself  throughout  his  lanky  frame.  He  saw  part 
way  down  the  hill,  at  the  side  of  the  road  by  which 
they  sat,  a  scraggy  little  horse,  attached  to  a  dilapi- 
dated, four-wheeled  light  waggon. 

"Back  there,  you  fool!  "cried  Jim,  jumping  to  his 
feet.  "  Where  d'ye  think  you're  a-going,  anyhow  ? 
Want  to  get  down  the  hill  again?  Thunder,  you  made 
fuss  enough  coming  up." 

The  young  man  ran  down  the  hill,  took  the  patient, 
unresisting  pony  by  the  bridle,  made  it  destrjjfe  a  semi- 
circle at  some  risk  of  upsetting  the  waggon,  TO-  jthe  an- 
imal up  the  hill  past  where  the  enthusiast  still  sat  ad- 
miring the  sunset,  then  giving  the  horse  a  hearty  slap 
on  the  flank  left  it  facing  the  east  to  crop  the  side- 
road  grass  again. 

"  Say,  Ben,  this  horse  is  just  like  you ;  it  hasn't 
enough  sense  to  pound  sand.  Think  of  its  not  know- 
ing any  better  than  to  go  fooling  clown  that  hill  again! " 

"  I  tell  you  what  I'd  like  to  see,"  said  Ben,  as  Jim 
seated  himself  once  more  on  the  side  of  the  ditch.  "  I'd 
like  to  see  a  real  Italian  sunset.  One  of  them  must  be 
worth  a  voyage  across  the  Atlantic." 

"  Well,  I've  seen  Italian  labourers,  and  in  seeing 
them  I've  had  all  I  want  of  Italy.  What  I'd  like  to  see 
is  a  way  of  earning  my  living.  This  here  peddling's 
no  good,  Ben.  There's  no  money  in  it ;  too  many  in 
the  business.  We're  not  ruined  by  Chinese  cheap 
labour,  as  that  Western  fellow  said,  but  we  might  as 
well  be.  There's  enough  of  American  cheap  labour  to 
knock  us  out." 

"  Do  you  know,  Jim,  I  think  where  we  have  made 
our  mistake  in  life  is  through  going  in  for  little  things 
instead  of  big.  It  is  just  as  easy  to  go  in  for  a  big 
thing  as  for  a  small  one." 

"  Meaning  profits,  do  you  ?  " 

"  Meaning  everything.  I  wish  I  had  gone  to  that 
university.  It  wouldn't  have  cost  any  more  than 
Stormboro  Academy;  for,  after  all,  the  main  charge  at 
college  is  the  living  expenses,  and  we  could  have  lived 
as  cheaply  here  as  there.  Then  when  we  were  through 


4  The  Victors 

we  should  have  had  something  at  the  back  of  us.  The 
University  of  Michigan  means  something;  Stormboro 
Academy  means  nothing  ten  miles  from  that  town. 
That's  where  I  think  we  made  the  initial  mistake,  and 
that's  what  I  was  referring  to  when  I  said  that  if  you're 
going  for  a  thing  go  for  the  biggest  of  the  kind  that's 
to  be  had." 

Ben  spoke  with  the  discouraged  air  of  a  disappointed 
man  of  twenty-one,  who  realises  when  it  is  too  late  the 
criminal  jjvaste  of  years  that  have  gone  before,  and 
fears  thar  his  life  is  wrecked  because  of  mistakes  past 
remedy.  The  silence  of  the  other  showed  that  he 
too,  shared  the  gloomy  forebodings  of  his  comrade. 
He  gazed  down  over  the  fair  town  toward  the  sun- 
set, his  brow  vexed  with  the  ruffling  of  passing 
thought,  as  a  placid  lake  is  rippled  by  a  sudden  cur- 
rent of  wrind.  The  grim  pessimism  of  youth  over- 
shadowed the  two  lads,  and  the  possibilities  of  the 
future  were  as  effectually  hidden  from  them  as  was 
the  beauty  of  the  scene  which  lay  before  their  eyes. 
Ben  had  wished  himself  in  Italy,  too  ignorant  to  know 
that,  spread  out  before  him  like  a  banquet  of  vision, 
was  as  fair  a  landscape  as  Italy  could  show,  while  the 
sunset  was  a  display  of  chromatic  celestial  fire,  such  as 
could  be  seen  in  no  country  but  America,  outvieing  in 
lavish  splendour  the  more  famous,  but  not  more  gor- 
geous, sunsets  of  the  Orient.  The  physical  eye  of  the 
young  man  saw  the  picture,  but  his  mental  eye  beheld 
the  sunset  of  his  imagination,  and  he  sighed  for  Italy. 

In  the  immediate  foreground  lay  embowered  amidst 
vivid  green  a  town  whose  loveliness,  with  its  polychro- 
matic background,  seemed  more  like  an  exaggerated 
theatre-spectacle  than  a  specimen  of  quiet  country 
scenery.  The  broad  carmine  disk  of  the  setting  sun 
was  sharply  cut  by  the  great  dome  of  the  university 
buildings,  giving  the  effect  of  a  shapely  cameo  environed 
with  crimson.  From  the  tall  square  pile  supporting  the 
lofty  dome,  which  bore  a  striking  resemblance  to  St. 
Peter's,  in  Rome,  projected,  on  either  side,  the  college 
wings,  giving  to  the  whole  edifice  a  stately  and  dignified 


"  Each  new-hatched,  unfledged  comrade  "     5 

appearance.  Various  departments  of  scholarly  activity 
were  housed  in  structures  that  formed  a  cluster  round 
the  domed  rotunda,  scattered  here  and  there  with  little 
regard  to  symmetrical  arrangement.  From  this  educa- 
tional core  the  town  radiated  in  all  directions,  every 
avenue  double-lined  with  trees,  roofs  peeping  above  the 
sea  of  foliage  which  circled  the  whitish  college  houses 
as  the  green  periphery  of  Damascus  surrounds  the 
snowlike  minarets  of  that  ancient  capital.  The  silver 
ribbon  of  a  river  ran  past  the  town,  and  as^far  as  the 
eye  could  see  lay  a  rolling  country,  smiling  like  a  gar- 
den. Such  is  the  city  of  Ann  Arbor,  the  home  of  the 
state  University  of  Michigan. 

"  After  all,  Ben,  the  main  thing  is  the  learning ;  it 
doesn't  so  much  matter  where  you  get  it.  Six  times 
seven  is  exactly  forty-two  in  the  university  as  it  is  in  the 
academy.  It  isn't  where  you  come  from,  but  what  you 
can  do,  now  that  you've  left  there;  that's  the  way  I  look 
at  it." 

"  Do  you  mean  to  hold  that  a  diploma  from  Yale  is 
no  better  than  a  certificate  from  Stormboro  ? "  asked 
Ben. 

"  I  don 'no.  Let's  go  and  test  it.  I'm  getting 
hungry,  and  we  haven't  made  enough  money  to-day  to 
buy  one  square  meal.  Let's  whip  up  old  Trigonitus 
here  and  journey  to  the  farmhouse.  I'll  tell  'em  you're 
a  Yale  man  and  that  I'm  from  Stormboro,  and  we'll 
find  out  whether  you  fare  better  than  I  do." 

"  Oh,  now  you're  talking  nonsense,  and  you  know  it. 
Here's  what  confronts  us.  We've  spent  four  years  at 
Stormboro  Academy,  and  we've  been  graduated,  which 
means,  I  take  it,  that  we  have  learned  all  they  can 
teach  us.  The  certificate  w-e  have  received  is  a  sort  of 
receipt  for  four  years'  time  duly  paid  to  the  school.  We 
have  the  receipt  and  the  knowledge,  the  question  is  what 
are  we  going  to  do  with  it." 

"  Which  ?     The  receipt  or  the  knowledge?  " 

Ben  ignored  this  flippant  question,  and  the  other 
after  shouting  at  the  horse,  which  showed  an  inclination 
to  wander  again,  went  on. 


6  The  Victors 

"  That  pony  also  seems  to  regret  he  was  not  allowed  to 
go  to  Ann  Arbor  college,  probably  having  yearnings 
to  come  out  as  the  educated  horse  in  a  circus.  Well, 
Ben,  what's  on  your  mind?  Out  with  it.  Got  another 
scheme?  " 

"  I've  got  a  hundred  of  them." 

"  Yes,  I  know,  but  I  want  only  one,  and  I'd  like  that 
one  to  be  workable.  Four  weeks  ago,  according  to 
you,  there  was  a  fortune  in  peddling.  A  fortune? 
Yes.  and  ever  so  much  besides.  We  would  travel 
round  the  world  and  see  things." 

"And   don't   we?" 

"  Yes.  We  were  to  accumulate  health  and  strength 
in  the  glorious  open  air  after  our  confinement  in  stuffy 
college  rooms." 

"Well,  don't  we?" 

"  After  having  filled  ourselves  full  of  theoretical 
knowledge  we  were  to  add  practical  information  direct 
from  the  people." 

"Don't  we?" 

"  Yes,  we  get  the  opinions  of  farmers  on  the  great 
tramp  question  when  we  ask  for  something  to-  eat, 
but  their  opinions  have  a  certain  monotony ;  they  are 
all  in  agreement  that  the  dogs  should  be  set  on  us. 
Then  we  were  to  make  fifty  per  cent,  on  everything  we 
sold,  and  the  money  was  to  flow  in  on  us.  Now  ask 
'Doesn't  it?'  and  I'll  answer  you." 

"  Well,  you  see,  Jim,  the  peddling  business  is  on  the 
wrong  basis." 

"  You  bet  it  is  !  " 

"  Hold  on  a  minute.  We  should  offer  the  people  a 
better  article  at  a  cheaper  price  than  they  can  get  else- 
where." 

"  Impossible  combination,    Ben." 

"  Not  at  all.  This  trade  simply  wants  to  be  revo- 
lutionised from  the  top,  and  we,  unfortunately,  are 
working  away  at  the  bottom.  There  are  too  many 
middlemen's  profits  before  the  goods  get  to  us." 

"  Why,  hang  it  all,  Ben,  we're  middlemen  ourselves, 
mighty  darn  middling,  too,  I  think." 


"  Each  new-hatched,  unfledged  comrade  "     7 

"  Yes,  but  we  earn  our  percentage  by  bringing  the 
goods  right  to  people's  doors." 

"  Oh,  that's  no  good,  Ben.  The  farmers  take  their 
produce  to  other  people's  doors.  The  fatal  weakness 
of  our  position  is  that  we  want  cash  for  our  stuff,  and 
won't  take  truck.  Now,  if  you  could  say  that  the 
price  of  this  paper  of  needles  was  two  eggs  instead  of 
five  cents  you  might  do  some  business.  The  man  at  the 
village  store  does  that,  so  how  can  we  hope  to  compete 
with  him  on  a  cash  basis?  It  can't  be  done,  and  the 
sooner  we  recognise  that,  the  less  time  we'll  lose.  We 
can't  lose  money,  because  we  haven't  got  it." 

"  But  other  fellows  make  money.  I  don't  like  the 
thought  of  giving  up  when  there  are  men  in  the  busi- 
ness making  it  pay." 

"  The  others  know  how  and  we  don't.  We  ought 
to  have  gone  to  a  pedlars'  college  if  we  wanted  to 
earn  money  at  this  trade.  What's  the  use  of  quad- 
ratic equations  here?  Hello !  Who's  this  chap  com- 
ing up  the  hill  in  such  a  hurry?  A  pedlar,  too,  I'll 
bet  a  dollar ;  let's  ask  him  how  he  works  the  oracle. 
He's  in  a  smaller  way  of  business  than  the  firm  of  Mc- 
Allister &  Co.,  for  he  carries  what  he  owns  on  his  back." 

Silence  fell  on  the  two  comrades  and  partners  as  the 
newcomer  approached.  The  sun  had  set,  but  a  lumin- 
ous twilight  held  the  land,  and  the  new  breeze  brought 
with  it  a  promise  of  the  night's  coolness  rather  than  the 
reality.  The  pedestrian  proved  to  be  a  stalwart  young 
man  of  twenty  or  thereabouts,  well  set  up,  with  broad 
shoulders,  a  bull  neck,  and  a  face  of  stern  determination. 

"  Hello,  boys,"  he  cried,  in  a  voice  loud  and  bois- 
terous, but  with  a  ring  of  good  nature  in  it. 

"Hello,"   replied   Jim,   "how  are   you   making   it?" 

"  Pretty  cursedly  hot  at  the  present  moment  of 
speaking.  Say  are  youse  in  the  peddling  line,  too  ?  " 

"  We  are.  And  doing  so  well  at  it  that  my  pard 
and  I  were  thinking  of  buying  the  university  building 
as  a  residence,  only  I  don't  like  the  cupola,  while  he 
wants  to  put  a  balcony  round  it,  as  there  would  be  such 


8  The  Victors 

a  good  view.     Not  being  able  to  agree  on  the  subject, 
here  we  sit  discussing  the  matter." 

The  stalwart  man  unslung  the  pack  that  was  strapped 
over  his  shoulders  and  placed  it  on  the  ground,  taking 
no  notice  of  Jim's  raillery.  It  was  evident  that  some- 
thing more  serious  occupied  his  thoughts. 

"  Say,  have  youse  got  a  licence  ?  " 

"  For  peddling?  Certainly.  We've  got  all  the  mod- 
ern improvements,  except  the  knack  of  selling  our  wares." 

"  Say,  let's  have  a  look  at  it." 

"  What !  Are  you  an  inspector  disguised  as  one  of  the 
fraternity  ?  " 

"  I'm  a  pedlar  all  right  enough,  but  I  never  had  a  li- 
cence, and  they  tell  me  I  must  get  one.  Ever  been  asked 
for  it?" 

"  Oh,  often,  but  never  by  another  pedlar." 

"  Let's  have  a  look  at  it." 

Ben.  who  had  the  document  in  question,  took  it  out  of 
an  inside  pocket  and  handed  it  to  the  stranger,  who 
glanced  over  the  paper,  then  looked  inquiringly  at  Jim. 

"  Your  name  McAllister?  " 

Jim  threw  his  thumb  in  the  direction  of  his  comrade. 

"  My  friend's  name's  McAllister.  I'm  the  silent  part- 
ner." 

"  Thanks,"  said  the  stranger,  coolly  folding  up  the  li- 
cence again ;  but  instead  of  handing  it  back  to  its  owner 
he  put  it  in  one  of  his  own  pockets. 

"Now,  what  do  you  mean  by  that?"  demanded  Jim. 

"  Oh,  it's  all  right,  fellers ;  I  want  to  borrow  it  for  a  lit? 
lie,  so  that  I  can  rest  with  a  mind  at  ease.  They've 
chased  me  all  over  town,  and  I'm  about  tired  out.  I 
thought  I  was  going  to  get  away  from  the  cursed  place 
by  doubling  on  them  and  making  for  the  depot,  but  there 
wasn't  a  train  for  two  hours  going  anywhere,  so  I  had 
to  make  a  circuit,  and  take  to  the  woods." 

"  That's  all  very  well,  but  if  the  authorities  come  down 
on  you  for  your  licence,  and  you  show  ours,  what's  to  be- 
come of  us  when  we  are  questioned?  If  they  come  thus 
far  after  you,  they  are  sure  to  demand  our  papers," 

"  Is  that  your  rig?" 


"  Each  new-hatched,  unfledged  comrade  "     9 

"  Yes." 

"  Very  well,  it  will  be  mine  until  later.  You  are 
merely  two  students  come  up  for  a  breath  of  air  from 
your  boarding  house.  See?  I'm  the  only  pedlar  in  this 
outfit.  See?  I  believe  that's  no  lie,  either." 

Saying-  this,  the  pedlar  rose,  lifted  his  pack,  and  fling- 
ing it  over  the  tailboard  of  the  light  waggon,  spoke  sooth- 
ingly to  the  horse,  which  had  lifted  its  head  and  pricked 
up  its  ears.  Then  he  returned  to  the  ditch  and  sat  down 
again,  pulling  out  a  pipe  as  he  did  so. 

"  Well,  stranger,"  said  Jim,  "  for  square  downright 
cheek  I  never  saw  that  equalled !  Never!  You  first  take 
our  licence,  then  you  appropriate  our  horse  and  waggon, 
without  even  saying  '  By  your  leave.'  I  don't  want  to 
flatter  you,  but  for  brazen  impudence  I  think  you  beat 
the  record." 

"Thanks.  It's  no  flattery.  Still,  I  am  delighted  to 
think  we  understand  each  other.  Now,  if  an  official 
comes  I  should  be  pleased  if  you  will  let  me  do  the  lying. 
I'm  an  expert,  and  you  amateurs  will  merely  bungle  the 
matter.  I  ask  this  as  a  favour." 

"  Very  well.  The  moment  he  comes  we  will  rtick  to  the 
truth  and  tell  him  we  are  not  students  at  the  university, 
but  pedlars,  and  that  you  have  stolen  our  licence." 

"  Oh,  no  you  won't.     Truth  can  be  carried  to  excess, 

like  everything  else.     You  understand  my  plan.     Now 

will  you  fall  in  with  it,  or  won't  you,  that's  the  question  ? 

If  you  won't  just  say  so  like  men,  and  then  I'll  lick  you 

Nboth  and  have  it  over." 

Jim  rose  at  this  with  clenched  fist,  indignant ;  the  chal- 
lenger did  not  move  from  his  place,  but  looked  lowering 
at  him  across  the  shallow  ditch,  evidently  on  the  alert 
should  the  other  mean  business.  Ben,  however,  held  up 
his  hand  and  addressed  his  comrade. 

"  Jim,  what's  the  matter  with  you  ?  This  man  is  in  the 
same  line  as  ourselves ;  like  us  he's  a  stranger  in  a  strange 
land,  and  if  he's  in  trouble  and  we  can  help  him,  we're 
going  to  do  it." 

"  McAllister,  you're  a  white  man ;  shake! "  said  the 
1  stranger,  suddenly  projecting  his  powerful  paw  across 


io  The  Victors 

the  ditch.  They  shook,  and  Jim  sat  down  again,  grumb- 
ling that  this  was  all  very  well,  but  they  would  get  them- 
selves into  trouble,  and  anyhow  he  did  not  like  the 
stranger's  method  of  asking  for  assistance.  The  stranger 
took  a  jackknife  from  his  trousers  pocket,  picked  up  a 
bit  of  stick  that  had  been  stranded  on  the  bank  when  the 
dry  ditch  was  in  flood,  began  shaping  it  to  a  point  with 
long  strokes  of  the  blade,  tapering  it  at  last  with  minute 
care,  as  if  it  were  intended  for  some  particular  purpose, 
which  it  was  not. 

The  silence  that  fell  upon  the  group  after  peace  had 
been  so  nearly  broken  was  at  last  disturbed  by  the  dis- 
tant whirr  of  buggy  wheels,  like  the  murmur  of  some 
gigantic  insect  in  the  still  summer  evening.  The  vehicle 
came  in  sight  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  and  rapidly  began  to 
ascend.  "  It's  a  shame  to  push  a  horse  up  a  hill  like 
that,"  said  the  big  pedlar,  glancing  towards  the  approach- 
ing conveyance,  which  contained  two  persons.  "  I  ex- 
pect they  know  I've  taken  to  the  country,  and  a  man  in  a 
buggy  will  be  searching  all  the  roads  that  lead  out  of  Ann 
Arbor." 

The  horse  was  pulled  up  sharply  at  the  brow  of  the 
hill,  and  a  dapper  man  sprang  nimbly  to  the  ground. 
The  big  pedlar  was  carefully  and  laboriously  rounding 
the  end  of  the  stick,  which  under  the  deft  manipulations 
of  the  blade  had  taken  on  somewhat  the  shape  of  a  sti- 
letto without  the  cross  bar.  He  seemed  to  have  no  cu- 
riosity regarding  the  advent  of  the  carriage  passenger, 
his  whole  attention  being  occupied  by  the  cabinet  work 
in  hand.  His  knife  was  marvellously  sharp  and  cut 
through  the  aromatic  Michigan  pine  as  if  it  were 
cheese. 

"  You  were  peddling:  in   town  this  afternoon,   I  be- 
lieve ?  "  said  the  dapper  man  advancing. 
Who?    Me?" 
Yes.     Do  you  deny  it  ?  " 

"  Wouldn't  think  of  contradicting  a  gentleman." 

"  Well,  I'd  just  like  to  see  your  licence,  if  you  please." 

"Mine?" 

"  Yes,  yours — if  you  have  one." 


"  Each  new-hatched,  unfledged  comrade  "    n 

"  Licence  for  what  ?    I  don't  sell  no  liquor." 

"  Licence  for  peddling — you  know  what  I  mean.  Pro- 
duce it." 

"  Oh,  you  want  to  see  it." 

"  Yes,  I  do." 

"  You  want  to  see  the  licence." 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  My  licence." 

"  Yes,  and  I  don't  want  to  stay  here  all  night  either." 

"  Certainly  not.  Certainly  not.  Yet  it's  nice  up  here  on 
top  of  the  hill.  And  say,  Ann  Arbor's  a  nice  town,  isn't 
it?  Nice  people  there,  I  should  judge.  So  these  uni- 
versity students  tell  me." 

"  Look  here,  my  man ;  I'm  not  here  to  discuss  the  town 
or  the  people  of  Ann  Arbor.  Will  you  stop  whittling  for 
a  minute  and  give  me  your  attention?  If  you've  got  a  li- 
cence, I  want  to  see  it ;  if  you  haven't,  I  must  trouble  you 
to  come  back  with  me." 

"In  the  buggy?  It  won't  hold  three  very  handily. 
These  side  bars  have  such  awfully  narrow  boxes ;  still, 
they're  good  for  speed.  There's  more  style  about  'em  than 
a  phaeton,  although  a  phaeton's  comfortable.  But  a  com- 
bination of  a  good  trotter  and  a  light  side  bar's  hard  to 
beat,  either  on  the  track  or  for  general  finish  and  natty 
appearance.  This  a  livery  rig,  or  your  own  ?  " 

"  Will  you  walk  down  town  with  me  peaceably,  or 
shall  I  have  to  arrest  you  ?  " 

"  Oh,  thanks,  but  I'm  not  going  down  town.  Seen  all 
I  wanted  of  the  place  this  afternoon ;  rather  in  a  hurry, 
but  still  I  got  a  very  good  idea  of  its  layout.  Nice  place. 
Say,  I  didn't  sell  a  thing  in  Ann  Arbor ;  so  help  me,  I 
didn't.  Give  you  my  word  of  honour  as  a  gentleman  I 
didn't.  Oath  on  a  stack  of  Bibles  I  didn't." 

"  That  makes  no  difference.     You  tried  to." 

"Is  that  the  law?" 

"  That's  the  law,  and  I  ask  you  to  respect  it." 

"  Oh,  I  do.  I'm  a  law-abiding  citizen,  I  am.  What 
would  we  be  without  the  law?  Anarchists,  that's  what 
we'd  be.  And  I  respect  the  guardians  of  the  law,  too. 
Always  have  done  so.  I'm  a  stickler  for  law." 


12  The  Victors 

"  I'm  very  glad  to  hear  it.  Will  you  show  me  your 
licence  or  walk  down  town  with  me?  " 

"  I  don't  have  to  walk.  That's  my  rig  there.  I'd  bet- 
ter drive  down  with  you." 

"  Very  well,  come  along.  Where  was  that  horse  and 
waggon  when  you  were  peddling  in  town  to-day  ?  " 

"  Trying  to  peddle,  you  mean.  Oh,  I  always  leave  my 
horse  out  in  the  country  and  take  in  a  shoulder  pack  with 
me.  Saves  any  amount  of  trouble,  for  that  horse  is  apt  to 
be  a  bit  lively  on  the  streets,  as  you  can  very  well  see. 
There's  a  bit  of  blood  in  that  horse,  although  you  might 
not  think  so.  Pure  Kentucky  stock;  bought  him  in  Lex- 
ington. You  see  by  the  shape  of  him  that — " 

"  I  can't  talk  here  all  night,  you  know." 

"  You  don't  need  to.  I'm  always  willing  to  do  the 
talking  in  whatever  company  I  am.  Sorry  I  can't  offer 
you  a  drink;  however,  we  can  get  that  in  the  village." 

The  young  man  rose  slowly  to  his  feet,  stretched  him- 
self lazily  and  yawned,  bringing  down  his  arms  with  a 
resounding  slap  against  his  sides  and  thighs. 

"  Come,  now,  have  you  got  any  licence  ?  "  asked  the 
official. 

"  Have  I  ?  Well,  now  what  kind  of  licence  did  you 
want,  state,  town  or  county  ?  " 

"  Any  one  of  the  three  will  do." 

"  Oh,  that's  good.  Nowyou've  asked  a  number  of  ques- 
tions about  me.  Suppose  I  ask  some  about  you.  You're 
an  inspector  of  licences,  you  tell  me.  State  of  Michigan, 
county  of  Washtenaw  or  town  of  Ann  Arbor?  " 

"  Town  of  Ann  Arbor,  where  you  were  peddling." 

"  Trying  to  peddle.  Perhaps  you  think  I  haven't  got 
a  licence  ?  " 

"  I  know  you  haven't.  I've  heard  of  you  before,  and 
we've  been  laying  for  you,  and  now  we've  got  you." 

"  Oh,  that's  the  state  of  the  case  is  it?"  cried  the 
pedlar  truculently,  advancing  on  the  other  with  clenched 
fists,  while  his  adversary  retreated  step  by  step.  "  Do  you 
know  what  I'm  going  to  do  with  you?  " 

"  Yes.  You  are  going  to  accompany  me  quietly,  and 
not  make  a  fool  of  yourself.  I  will  call  on  the  three  here 


"  Each  new-hatched,  unfledged  comrade"    13 

in  the  name  of  the  state  to  assist  an  officer  of  the  law,  if 
you  attempt  violence." 

"  If  it  comes  to  violence  I  can  readily  take  care  of 
the  four  of  you  including  the  horse  and  buggy.  Do  you 
know  what  I'm  going  to  do  with  you?" 

"  I  know  what  I'm  going  to  do  with  you.  I  arrest  you 
for  resisting  a  duly  qualified  officer  of  the  law."  Saying 
this  the  official  whipped  out  of  his  pocket  a  gleaming  re- 
volver. Before  he  could  raise  it  the  firm  hand  of  the 
pedlar  darted  like  a  hawk  on  the  officer's  wrist  and  the 
revolver  went  off  harmlessly  with  a  sharp  smiting  crack, 
the  bullet  raising  a  spit  of  dust  on  the  road.  Ben  and 
Jim  sprang  to  their  feet,  the  former  shouting,  "  Don't 
resist  an  officer."  The  horse  in  the  buggy  reared  on  its 
hind  legs,  the  other  in  the  waggon  barely  raised  its  head, 
in  spite  of  its  Kentucky  blood,  which  should  have  been 
responsive  to  the  click  of  such  a  weapon. 

The  pedlar,  smiling  faintly,  gently  detached  the 
fingers  of  his  opponent  from  the  butt  of  the  pistol,  with- 
drew it  from  the  reluctant  hand  and  slipped  the  deadly 
instrument  into  his  own  coat  pocket.  Then  he  said 
as  calmly  as  if  the  conversation  had  not  been  interrupted : 

"  Do  you  know  what  I'm  going  to  do  with  you?  " 

"  No,  I  don't." 

"  Why,  I'm  going  to  show  you  my  licence,  as  you  seem 
so  anxious  to  look  at  it."  Saying  this  the  young  man 
patted  his  coat,  above  and  beneath,  slapped  his  trousers  as 
if  not  sure  where  he  kept  the  paper,  then  finally  drew  it 
from  an  inside  pocket  and  handed  it  deferentially  to  the 
officer.  The  latter,  somewhat  bewildered,  unfolded  the 
document  and  scrutinised  it  suspiciously,  holding  it  up  so 
that  the  last  tinges  of  light  from  the  evening  sky  illumi- 
nated it  faintly. 

"  Shall  I  strike  a  match  ?  I  try  to  peddle  'em,  you 
know." 

"  Your  name's  McAllister,  is  it  ?  " 

"  Yes.  Christened  Benjamin.  Commonly  known  as 
Ben ;  Ben  the  pedlar." 

"  Where  did  you  get  this  paper?  " 

"  At  Lansing.    Isn't  that  written  down  there?  " 


14  The  Victors 

"  Why  did  you  make  such  efforts  to  evade  me  in  town 
to-day  if  you  had  this  licence  ?  " 

"  Bless  you,  how  was  I  to  know  that  you  merely 
wanted  the  licence?  Evade  you?  You  bet.  I  thought 
you  were  after  me  for  grand  larceny,  or  had  found  out  I 
had  just  escaped  from  state  prison  at  Jackson.  Thunder! 
If  I'd  known  you  only  wanted  the  licence,  it  would  have 
saved  me  a  foot  race." 

"  How  am  I  to  know  that  you  are  the  person  named 
in  this  paper?  " 

"  Is  that  a  conundrum  ?  I  give  it  up.  How  ?  What's 
the  answer?  " 

Perhaps  the  frivolous  and  often  insulting  nature  of 
the  pedlar's  replies  did  more  to  convince  the  officer  that 
he  was  on  the  wrong  track  than  if  the  demeanour  of  the 
culprit  had  been  cringing  and  supplicative.  It  did  not 
seem  possible  that  a  man  who  was  not  sure  of  his  legal 
standing  could  be  so  independent  and  impertinent.  Be 
that  as  it  may  the  officer  folded  the  paper  and  handed 
it  back,  receiving  in  exchange  the  revolver  which  the 
pedlar  with  a  flourish  presented  to  and  not  at  him. 

"  Thank  you,"  said  the  officer.    "  Good  evening." 

"  O  dear  me,  no.  The  discussion's  just  in  its  prime. 
You  must  listen  to  me  for  a  while,  me  boy.  Now,  you 
seem  to  have  some  queer  ideas  about  the  importance  of 
your  official  position  which  I'd  like  put  right  before  we 
part.  The  citizens  of  these  United  States  are  sover- 
eigns that  delegate  to  youse  whatever  power  ye'r  swing- 
ing. In  consequence  of  this,  the  two  positions  of  an  ordi- 
nary citizen  and  an  official  take  on  the  status  of  master 
and  servant.  An  official  -shud  keep  his  eye  peeled  to 
carry  out  his  duties  with  this  fact  in  view,  and  to  take 
care  that  his  acts  are  sort  of  whitewashed  with  courtesy 
and  justice  where  they  comie  into  contact  with  the 
liberty  of  a  citizen." 

"  I  quite  agree  with  you." 

"  Begobs,  sur,  ye  can't  do  otherwise.  It  must  be  the 
constant  endeavour  of  an  official  to  confine  himself 
shtrictly  to  the  limits  of  the  power  enthrusted  to  him, 
be  the  people,  because  the  moment  he  oversteps  that 


"  Each  new-hatched,  unfledged  comrade  "    15 

power  he  becomes  a  tyrant,  a  thing  not  to  be  borne  in  this 
free  land." 

"  All  that  is  admitted.  If  you  are  referring  to  me  in 
this  harangue,  I  would  call  your  attention  to  the  fact 
that  I  have  not  exceeded  my  rights  nor  infringed  on 
yours.  I  have  at  all  times  stood  ready  to  show  the  au- 
thority under  which  I  act." 

"  You  were  not  ready  a  short  time  since.  If  you  are 
ready  now  so  much  the  better.  I  request  you  to  show  me 
by  what  right  you  asked  to  see  my  licence." 

"  Certainly.    I  never  refused  it.    There  is  my  warrant." 

The  pedlar  examined  the  paper  handed  to  him  as  care- 
fully as  the  official  had  perused  his  licence. 

"  It  is  just  as  I  suspected,"  he  said  at  last.  "  You  had 
every  right  to  stop  me  within  the  town  limits  of  Ann 
Arbor,  but  the  moment  your  buggy  wheels  crossed  the 
boundary  line  of  that  town  you  were  N.  G.,  and  your 
authority  wint  up  a  tree.  When  you  hopped  out  of  this 
rig  and  accosted  me,  more  especially  when  you  made  a 
demand  for  the  production  of  papers,  you  were  perform- 
ing an  act  of  tyranny  or  in  simpler  words  ye  were  act- 
ing the  pirate.  But  when  you  pulled  a  gun  on  me,  that 
outside  the  boundaries  of  Ann  Arbor  you  had  no  right 
to  carry,  and  when  you  discharged  it,  you  at  once  placed 
yourself  in  the  category  of  such  criminals  as  the  holder- 
up  of  a  train  or  the  highway  robber.  The  moment  your 
weapon  came  into  view  I  should  have  been  legally  jus- 
tified in  killing  you  in  your  tracks,  and  any  jury  or  judge 
in  this  land  would  have  held  that  I  done  right.  Now 
what  have  you  to  say  for  yourself  ?  " 

The  official  stood  with  one  foot  on  the  ground  and  the 
other  elevated,  resting  on  the  buggy  step.  His  right  hand 
grasped  an  iron  stanchion  rising  from  the  seat  end  of  the 
vehicle.  All  motion  seemed  stricken  from  him  by  the 
sudden  change  in  the  manner  of  the  pedlar,  and  for  a  time 
he  made  no  reply  to  the  question  so  sternly  asked  him. 
The  driver  of  the  buggy  sat  with  dropped  jaw,  look- 
ing like  one  hypnotised  at  the  towering  man  in  the 
road,  whose  strong  face,  with  its  fierce,  overhanging, 
shaggy  brows,  and  its  massive,  obstinate  jaw,  took  on  a 


16  The  Victors 

strange  light  from  the  glow  of  the  evening  sky  as  he 
stood  erect  facing  the  west.  He  made  no  threatening 
gestures,  no  gestures  at  all,  in  fact,  but  his  voice  had  a 
deep,  accusing  ring  in  it  that  thrilled  his  listeners, 
especially  the  two  young  men  seated  by  the  roadside,  who 
seemed  to  forget,  under  the  spell  of  his  eloquence,  that 
this  man,  from  whom  all  levity  had  suddenly  fallen,  was 
fraudulent,  standing  thus  stoutly  for  the  rights  of  a  citi- 
zen on  the  insecure  foundation  of  a  false  name  and  pur- 
loined credentials.  He  had  assumed  all  the  dignity  of  an 
implacable  and  just  judge,  and  his  victim  seemed  to 
cower  before  his  impregnable  statement  of  the  case.  At 
last  the  official  spoke,  with  a  poor  attempt  at  noncha- 
lance : 

"  I  have  no  desire  to  carry  this  matter  any  further, 
if  you  haven't." 

"  Then  the  first  thing  I  want  from  you  is  an  abject 
apology,  given  in  the  presence  of  these  three  men,  before 
whom  you  infringed  upon  my  rights,"  said  the  pedlar, 
sternly. 

"  Very  well ;  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  I  am 
sorry  I  acted  as  I  did,  and  I  ask  you — abjectly,  if  you  like 
— to  pardon  me." 

There  came  an  instant  change  in  the  rigid  attitude  of 
the  accuser,  the  old  semi-sarcastic  smile  parted  his  firm 
lips,  and  a  humorous  twinkle  again  lit  up  his  eye. 

'  That's  all  right  and  'nuf  sed.  A  man  can't  do  more 
than  say  he's  sorry,  at  least  not  much  more,  unless  the 
injured  person  is  a  pedlar  and  in  that  case  the  overbear- 
ing tyrant  can  help  to  grease  the  wheels  of  legitimate 
commerce.  You  see,  from  circumstances  over  which  I 
had  mighty  little  control,  I  did  no  business  to-day.  He 
who  runs  may  read,  perhaps,  if  the  print  is  large  enough, 
but  I  give  you  my  word  he  can't  engage  in  traffic.  Say, 
officer,  I've  got  some  of  the  finest  writing  paper  and  en- 
velopes here  you  ever  see.  Made  by  the  Eagle  paper 
works  of  Limestone,  Mass.  Such  paper  has  never  before 
been  sold  in  the  West  at  the  price  I  am  offering  it.  I  give 
it  to  you  straight  that  official  utterances  penned  on  this 
paper,  if  you  can  pen  utterances,  command  a  respect  they 


"  Each  new-hatched,  unfledged  comrade  "    17 

could  never  otherwise  obtain  short  of  parchment.  And 
only  a  quarter  a  package ;  twenty-five  cents  takes  the  lot. 
What  do  you  say,  officer  ?  " 

While  he  went  glibly  on  he  had  taken  from  the  tail  of 
the  waggon  his  black  knapsack,  and  with  a  deftness 
that  indicated  long  practice  threw  off  the  clasps  and  split 
the  box  in  two.  throwing  back  each  hinged  half  on  his 
knee,  thus  displaying  the  wares  within. 

"  Oh,  I  see,"  remarked  the  inspector  dryly,  "  I  am  to  be 
a  purchaser,  am  I  ?  Is  this  a  compulsory  addition  to  the 
apology  ?  " 

"  Of  course  not.  The  apology  came  quite  naturally 
because  you  were  a  gentleman,  and  this  trading  follows 
just  as  naturally  because  ye  want  to  help  in  a  busi- 
ness revival.  You  insist  on  having  the  package  of  sta- 
tionery ?  Very  good ;  it's  yours.  Now  paper  and  en- 
velopes are  useless  'less  ye've  pens.  Here's  the  very  finest 
pen  in  the  market.  Dodd's  celebrated  Jumping  Juniper. 
Ten  in  a  box  and  dirt  cheap  at  a  quarter.  You  will 
have  'em,  eh  ?  Right  you  are.  Sold  again  and  got  the  tin. 
That  makes  half  a  dollar.  Bottle  of  ink?  No?  Got  in 
your  autumn  stock  of  the  fluid.  All  right ;  we  pass  that. 
How  about  pencils,  in  case  your  ink  gets  frozen  during 
August?  Ten  for  fifty  cents,  half  a  dollar  takes  the  lot. 
Best  in  the  world,  made  especially  for  the  Michigan 
market  with  lead  so  firm  and  unbreakable  that  they  are 
often  extracted  "by  the  wives  of  our  pioneers  to  use  as 
knitting  needles.  Some  of  our  best  statesmen  have  ac- 
quired their  arithmetic  with  these  pencils,  while  wearing 
the  stockings  knit  by  their  leads.  With  the  assistance  of 
these  pencils  an  official  can  send  in  a  bill  for  expenses  to 
the  government  that  will  bring  in  double  what  he  paid 
out,  a  thing  that  can  be  done  with  no  other  brand. 
Must  have  the  whole  packet?  I  thought  so.  That 
totals  up  to  a  dollar." 

"  Just  take  one  of  the  pencils  and  make  out  your  ac- 
count for  two  dollars;  if  you  are  satisfied  to  let  it  go  at 
that,  I  am." 

"  Oh,  no.  This  is  the  only  travelling  aggregation  on  the 
road  where  you  get  the  worth  of  your  money  either  in 


i8  The  Victors 

the  big  tent  or  at  the  side  shows,  so  here  you  are  for 
buttons.  Button,  button,  who's  got  the  button?  Why, 
you  have,  of  course.  These  cards  of  assorted  buttons 
are  the  last  rock  of  refuge  to  the  lonely  bachelor,  and  the 
light  and  blessing  of  the  happy  home.  Sixteen  cards  of 
variegated  buttons  for  a  dollar,  and  you  never  made  a 
better  bargain  in  your  life.  Well,  here's  the  whole  out- 
fit. Two  dollars ;  thank  you,  sir,  and  I'll  make  out  a  re- 
ceipt next  time  I'm  in  the  neighbourhood.  Sorry  to  have 
put  you  to  the  trouble  of  coming  out  all  this  distance  for 
your  goods.  I'd  cheerfully  have  called  on  you  either 
at  your  residence  or  at  your  office.  Will  know  where  to 
drop  in  when  I'm  on  my  next  round.  Good-evening." 

The  pedlar  stood  in  the  road  and  watched  the  buggy 
turn  round  and  drive  rapidly  down  the  hill  toward  the 
town  of  twinkling  lights.  Then  he  said  to  the  two  sit- 
ting there,  "  Peddling's  a  business  like  everything  else. 
It  all  depends  on  knowing  how  to  do  it.  See  ?  " 


CHAPTER  II 

"  HE'LL  TURN  YOUR  CURRENT  IN  A  DITCH  " 

BEN  MCALLISTER  the  actual  rose  to  his  feet,  crossed 
the  ditch  and  stood  on  the  darkening  road  confronting 
Ben  McAllisterthe  apocryphal.  Jim  followed  his  example. 
During  the  last  few  minutes  McAllister's  sensitive  mind 
had  undergone  some  extreme  variations,  and  the  result 
of  alternate  tension  and  relaxation  was  now  depression, 
as  if  he  had  been  through  a  mental  debauch  and  was 
suffering  from  the  consequent  headache.  He  was  a  fer- 
vent lover  of  truth.  Probably  some  of  his  ancestors  had 
died  for  it,  and  heredity,  quite  unsuspected  by  himself, 
had  mixed  in  his  make-up  the  ingredients  of  which  mar- 
tyrs are  made.  There  existed  deep  down  in  his  nature  a 
stratum  of  undeveloped  religious  enthusiasm  which 
might  some  day  change  him  into  a  fanatic.  He  was  not 
cognisant  of  these  things,  for  no  country  is  so  unknown 
to  a  young  man  as  the  labyrinths  of  his  own  soul.  Ben's 
estimate  of  himself  depicted  a  simple-minded  person  with 
an  eager  desire  to  get  on  in  the  world,  honestly  of  course, 
with  an  exaggerated  estimate  of  the  powers  of  others 
and  an  undue  depreciation  of  his  own,  yet  doggedly  deter- 
mined to  do  the  best  with  the  resources  given  him,  a 
resolution  modified  by  the  constantly  recurring  fear  that 
he  would  not  know  how  to  make  the  best  use  of  the  oppor- 
tunities that  might  befall  him. 

His  nerves  had  tingled  as  he  listened  to  the  pedlar's 
denunciation  of  tyranny,  and  his  back  stiffened  as  he 
heard  the  rights  of  citizenship  so  eloquently  laid  down; 
but  when  a  moment  later  the  serious  mask  was  jauntily 
tossed  aside  for  the  comic  and  Ben  realised  that  the 
fervid  declamation  was  for  the  occasion  only  and  not 

19 


2o  The  Victors 

from  tjie  heart — that  conviction  played  no  part  in  the 
oratory — and  more  especially  when  he  saw  the  pedlar 
turn  to  commercial  uses,  almost  blackmail  indeed,  the 
dilemma  of  the  victim  with  whom  he  verbally  played, 
McAllister  experienced  a  sensation  of  loathing  that  made 
further  communication  with  the  charlatan  almost  im- 
possible. 

He  looked  at  his  comrade  expecting  to  find  in  his  face 
some  reflection  of  the  feeling  that  animated  his  own 
breast,  but  he  saw  no  trace  of  such.  There  was,  instead, 
an  undeniable  expression  of  admiration  for  the  business 
dexterity  which  had  so  successfully  extracted  good  money 
from  a  situation  which  at  one  time  seemed  desperate. 
Jim  shared  the  almost  universal  veneration  for  the  player 
with  the  trump  card  who  takes  the  odd  trick. 

"  If  you  will  return  to  me  my  licence,"  said  Ben 
slowly,  "  we  will  get  on  with  our  journey.  It's  late." 

''Where  do  you  think  you're  going?"  inquired  the 
stranger  with  genial  curiosity. 

"  I  don't  know." 

"  Well,  I'm  bound  for  the  same  place." 

"  I  want  my  licence." 

"Oh,  see  here.  We  ain't  going  to  part  company  just 
yet.  I've  taken  a  notion  to  you  fellows.  You  stood  by 
me  like  a  couple  of  bricks,  and  a  man  does  not  pick  up  a 
real  friend  on  the  road  every  day.  No,  sir ;  I  ain't  going 
to  let  go  of  you  so  quick  as  all  that ;  besides,  I  can  see 
that  you  don't  know  any  more  about  peddling  than  a 
couple  of  infants.  Say,  you  shouldn't  be  allowed  out  on 
the  road  alone,  especially  at  night.  I'm  going  to  take  care 
of  you." 

"  The  first  thing  I  want  is  my  licence ;  after  that  we 
can  talk  of  the  future.  I  lent  you  the  licence,  it  served 
your  turn ;  now  give  it  back  to  me  if  you  are  an 
honourable  man." 

"  I  never  claimed  to  be  an  honourable  man,  though 
I'm  not  such  a  liar  as  you  think.  I'm  a  pedlar.  Besides, 
you  wouldn't  know  what  to  do  with  the  licence  if  you  had 
it" 

"  It's  mine,"  persisted  Ben, 


"He'll  turn  your  current  in  a  ditch"       21 

"  Of  course  it's  yours.  Who  denies  it  ?  Although  you 
must  admit  that  possession's  nine  points,  and  I've  got 
possession.  Fact  is,  the  ownership  of  the  paper  is  a  de- 
batable question,  and  I'm  quite  willing  to  go  into  it  on  the 
most  amicable  and  conciliatory  basis.  You  see  I'm  like 
the  man  with  the  tiger  by  the  tail,  I  don't  know  whether 
to  hang  on  or  let  go.  I  must  have  time  to  turn  round. 
That  fellow  who  went  down  the  hill  may  get  madder  and 
madder  the  more  he  thinks  about  the  business,  and  I  for 
one  wouldn't  blame  him.  Trouble  is  the  livery  stable 
man.  The  story  will  be  too  good  to  keep,  and  by  this 
time  to-morrow  it  will  be  all  over  the  town.  Everybody 
will  be  shouting  across  the  street  to  that  inspector,  '  Is 
this  your  day  for  buying  stationery  ? '  or  '  How  are  you 
stocked  on  buttons  ?  '  Now  he's  going  to  have  revenge  ; 
that's  human  nature.  He'll  put  the  state  authorities  on 
to  me,  and  I  simply  daren't  let  go  this  paper  till  I  get  one 
of  my  own.  You  see  my  fix." 

"  Still,"  expostulated  Jim,  standing  up  for  his  friend, 
who  .made  no  reply  to  this  statement  of  the  case,  "  the 
paper  is  ours,  all  the  same.  If  you  think  we  can't  get  it 
back,  you  are  mistaken.  All  we've  got  to  do  is  to  go 
clown  the  hill  to  that  official,  tell  him  the  truth  and  send 
the  sheriff  after  you." 

"  I'll  tell  you  why  you  can't  do  that,"  said  the  pedlar 
with  great  good  nature.  "  You  sat  there  without  saying 
a  word  while  I  bluffed  him.  You  didn't  wag  a  jaw  when 
I  held  him  up  and  sold  things  to  him.  Then  was  your 
time  to  speak  or  forever  after  hold  your  peace,  as  the 
marriage  ceremony  has  it.  You,  in  a  way,  compounded  a 
felony,  if  it  was  a  felony.  Whatever  it  was,  anyhow, 
you're  in  it,  and  you  can't  help  yourselves.  By  the  way, 
have  youse  got  any  money  ?  " 

"  Do  you  want  that,  too  ?  "  asked  Jim. 

"  I  wouldn't  mind.  Still,  we  don't  need  the  cash,  ex- 
cept perhaps  for  a  bite  to  eat,  and  sometimes  not  even 
for  that  if  we  strike  a  white  man.  As  for  a  bedroom, 
there's  nothing  beats  a  barn  with  a  nice  hay-mow  in  it 
this  time  of  the  year ;  but  I  think  we  ought  to  be  getting 


22  The  Victors 

farther  from  town,  where  the  farmers  are  not  so  sus- 
picious and  don't  keep  their  barns  locked." 

"  As  my  friend  has  already  said,  the  first  proviso  is  the 
giving  back  of  our  property.  We  want  the  licence," 
said  Jim. 

"  Then  don't  let's  waste  time,  but  discuss  the  matter 
as  we  go  along." 

Saying  this  the  pedlar  carried  his  black  box  once  more 
to  the  waggon,  flung  it  in,  patted  the  patient  horse,  gath- 
ered up  the  reins  and  climbed  into  the  rickety  seat  as  if 
he  were  proprietor  of  the  conveyance.  Behind  the  one 
seat  were  two  square  receptacles  which  held  the  goods 
the  young  men  had  been  endeavouring  to  turn  into 
money. 

"Come  on,  youse,  if  you're  coming,"  commanded  the 
pedlar,  crying  over  his  shoulder  to  the  two  indistinct 
figures  that  stood  irresolute  some  distance  back  on  the 
road. 

"  What  are  we  to  do  ?  "  whispered  Ben  in  accents  of  de- 
spair. "  I  don't  like  that  fellow  at  all  and  don't  want  to 
travel  in  his  company,  yet  he  seems  quite  capable  of  driv- 
ing off  with  our  horse,  waggon  and  licence  if  we  don't 
go  with  him." 

"  Say !  Are  youse  coming,  or  are  ye  not  ?  "  shouted 
the  stranger. 

"  Well,  there  is  only  one  of  three  things  to  do,"  com- 
mented Jim,  "  go  with  him,  let  him  drive  off  with  our 
property,  or  take  our  property  from  him." 

"«Can  we,  do  you  think?  That  is,  can  we  take  it  from 
him?  " 

"  We  can  try." 

"  For  the  third  and  last  time,  are  youse  coming  with 
me  ?  "  repeated  the  pedlar. 

The  two  comrades  rapidly  approached  the  side  of  the 
waggon,  and  the  pedlar,  chortling  to  himself,  sat  as  far 
over  to  the  driving  end  of  the  seat  as  he  could,  to  make 
room  for  them. 

"  I  think  there's  space  enough  for  the  three  of  us, 
but  if  the  middle  man  finds  himself  uncomfortably 


"  He'll  turn  your  current  in  a  ditch  "       23 

crowded,  he  can  easily  step  back  and  get  a  very  good 
place  on  one  of  them  boxes." 

Jim  was  the  spokesman  of  their  new  resolve,  and  his 
voice  was  angry. 

"  For  the  third  and  last  time,  as  you  said  yourself,  or 
for  the  fourth  or  fifth  or  sixth  and  last,  will  you  give  up 
that  licence,  or  shall  we  have  to  take  it  from  you  ?  " 

"  Do  you  mean  that  ?  "  cried  the  pedlar,  dropping  the 
reins. 

"  Every  word  of  it." 

With  a  whoop  the  intruder  sprang  into  the  air  clear 
of  the  waggon,  flinging-  his  arms  aloft  as  if  he  were  about 
to  fly.  Before  there  was  time  for  the  two  to  jump  he  was 
down  upon  them,  an  arm  around  each  neck  like  Samson 
grasping  the  pillars,  bearing  them  to  the  ground  as  if  a 
tree  had  fallen  upon  them.  When  they  realised  what 
had  happened  he  had  a  hand  clutching  each  throat  and  a 
knee  on  each  breast,  holding  them  absolutely  helpless. 
There  was  no  trace  of  annoyance  or  malice  in  his  voice  as 
he  spoke. 

"  Is  it  a  coercion  act  ye  would  be  after  puttin'  on  me? 
Is  that  the  way  one  gentleman  should  address  another? 
Will  ye  give  it  up,  says  you,  or  shall  we  take  it  from 
ye?  Thunder  and  turf!  the  answer  to  that  question  is 
plain  enough.  Ye'll  take  it  from  me.  And  now  set  to 
work  at  it,  an'  let  me  know  when  you  get  it." 

There  was  now  little  doubt  of  his  nationality,  for 
while  he  did  not  talk  with  a  brogue,  there  was  neverthe- 
less an  accent  in  his  sentences  brought  on  by  the  excite- 
ment of  the  encounter  that  distinctly  pointed  to  Irish' ex- 
traction at  least. 

Jim  made  some  laudable  attempts  to  strike  his  assailant 
in  the  face,  which  ineffectual  blows  the  uppermost  man 
easily  evaded  by  holding  back  his  head  and  tightening 
his  grip  on  Jim's  throat.  This  caused  a  cessation  of 
efforts  which  the  under  man  speedily  recognised  to  be 
unavailing. 

"  It's  your  time  to  call  the  game  now,  so  what  are  ye 
going  to  do  about  it?  I'm  quite  comfortable  here  for  the 
night.  Are  youse  as  content  ?  " 


24  The  Victors 

"  Let  us  up !  "  gasped  Ben.  "  We  had  no  intention  of 
resorting  to  violence." 

"  Is  it  resorting  to  violence?  And  sure  if  ye  did  it 
would  be  against  the  most  peaceable  man  in  all  this  world, 
the  more  shame  to  you  ;  a  man  simply  thirsting  for  friend- 
ship; and  we'll  take  it  from  ye,  says  you.  Now,  I'm 
equally  ready  for  a  scuffle  or  a  hug,  whichever  ye  like; 
for  a  smack  in  the  jaw  or  a  shake  of  the  handr  each 
entirely  welcome  and  returned  with  cordiality." 

"  Where's  your  liberty  of  the  citizen,  and  your  freedom 
of  the  highway  now,  you  flannel-mouthed  Paddy ;  you 
Irish  hoodlum !  "  cried  Jim,  who  was  displeased  and  too 
much  excited  to  speak  diplomatically,  which  proved  to  be 
a  tactical  mistake  in  the  circumstances,  evidenced  by  an 
increased  tightening  of  the  grip  and  weightier  pressure 
of  the  knee. 

"  And  that's  one  lie  to  your  credit,  for  I'm  as  good  an 
American  as  you  are,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  I  was  born 
in  the  old  sod,  but  left  it  when  I  was  less  than  two  years 
old,  and  that  was  as  reasonably  early  as  one  could  be  ex- 
pected to  recognise  an  original  mistake ;  but  as  good  as 
you  are  and  as  bad  as  I  am,  I  am  as  good  as  you  are, 
as  bad  as  I  am.  Do  ye  hear  that,  now?  And  as 
for  them  things  you  speak  of  on  the  highway,  they  go 
right  down  fornenst  a  threat,  as  you'll  be  able  to  testify 
ever  after.  Liberty  and  freedom  are  all  very  well  taken 
in  moderation,  like  the  truth  we  were  discussing  a  while 
since,  but  too  much  of  anything  is  bad  for  a  person. 
Avoid  excess,  me  boy,  if  ye  want  to  live  long  and  have  a 
peaceful  time  on  the  earth." 

"  It's  an  interesting  subject,  and  I  would  rather  argue 
it  out  on  my  feet,  if  you  don't  mind,"  said  Jim  more 
calmly. 

"  Right  you  are,  and  sense  is  returning  to  you,"  replied 
their  oppressor,  without,  however,  making  a  motion  to 
relieve  them.  "  Will  ye  be  decent  comrades  to  me  for  a 
day  or  two,  and  will  ye  let  the  licence  rest  until  I  have 
it  clear  in  my  mind  what  is  best  to  be  done  with  it  ?  " 

"  Yes,  yes,"  said  the  parties  of  the  second  part,  thor- 
oughly defeated.  The  victor  sprang  from  them  as  nimbly 


"  He'll  turn  your  current  in  a  ditch  "       25 

as  he  had  descended  upon  them,  and  a  moment  later  was 
industriously  brushing  the  dust  from  their  coats,  as  if 
their  fall  had  been  a  deplorable  accident  which  he  sympa- 
thetically regretted. 

He  was  the  first  to  climb  into  the  waggon,  taking  the 
reins  again  as  if  the  question  of  his  leadership  and  pos- 
session had  been  amicably  settled.  Touching  up  the  un- 
ambitious horse  with  the  beech  gad  which  took  the  place 
of  a  whip,  they  jogged  along  in  the  darkness  toward  the 
east,  while  he  rattled  on,  giving  advice  and  relating  ex- 
periences as  if  nothing  untoward  had  marred  the  serenity 
of  their  companionship.  The  other  two  for  the  most  part 
kept  silence,  oppressed  by  the  feeling  that  they  were  in  a 
measure  the  guests  of  the  driver,  and  rather  intruders  on 
his  hospitality. 

"  You  see,  there  is  nothing  to  be  made  on  the  main 
thoroughfare,  because  there's  too  many  travelling  that 
way.  Our  dodge  is  to  get  off  on  a  side  road  as  soon  as 
we  can,  and  then  folks  are  glad  to  meet  us.  I  don't  sup- 
pose you  could  get  a  bed  or  a  meal  of  victuals  from  here 
clear  through  to  Detroit,  that  is,  for  nothing,  and  the 
nearer  you  come  to  a  big  town  the  harder  it  is  to  forage. 
I  always  strike  in  for  the  unfrequented  districts  when  I 
want  something  to  eat  and  don't  want  to  pay  for  it. 

"  Now  I  propose  not  to  continue  east  toward  Wayne 
county,  but  to  strike  angleways  north  toward  Oakland,  or 
angleways  south  toward  Monroe  county,  whichever  way 
you  say,  or  shall  we  leave  it  to  chance  and  take  the  first 
cross-road  we  come  to?  It  makes  no  sort  of  differ  to  me, 
so  I  leave  it  for  you  boys  to  call  the  game."  The  pedlar 
said  this  with  an  air  of  accommodating  magnanimity  that 
resembled  the  gracious  condescension  of  a  monarch. 
There  was  no  reply  for  some  minutes,  then  McAllis- 
ter, whx>  was  above  everything  good  natured  and  wished 
to  relieve  the  tension  of  the  situation,  said : 

"  I  guess  Monroe  county  would  suit  Jim,  best." 

"  Then  Monroe  it  is.    Do  you  know  anybody  there?  " 

"  His  name's  Monro,  that's  all,"  returned  Ben. 

"  Oh,  I  see.  Be  gubs,  we're  all  M's.  Mine's  Maguire; 
Patrick  Maguire.  You'll  be  saying  that's  Irish  next." 


26  The  Victors 

"  Oh,  no.  It  strikes  me  as  Norman-French,"  replied 
Jim  sullenly. 

Maguire  laughed. 

"  True  for  ye,"  replied  the  Irishman.  "  It's  Norman 
New  York,  that's  what  it  is,  and  that's  where  I'm  work- 
ing my  way  back.  There's  no  money  in  the  West,  or  at 
least  if  there  is,  them  that  have  it  don't  want  to  part  with 
it.  It  doesn't  seem  to  me  I  get  my  share  among  these 
pine  woods  millionaires  and  steamboat  kings  between  here 
and  Chicago.  I  hope  there's  better  luck  waiting  me  in 
the  East.  I  tell  you  what  it  is,  boys,  we're  going  to  stand 
a  mighty  good  chance  of  being  hungry  to-night.  We 
fooled  too  long  at  the  top  of  the  hill,  for  people  go  to 
bed  early  in  these  rural  districts,  making  up  by  that 
infamy  the  still  more  atrocious  crime  of  early  rising. 
Here,  get  a  move  on  you." 

He  applied  the  switch  to  the  back  of  the  listless  horse, 
that  ambled  along  through  the  night,  the  silence  of  which 
the  waggon  disturbed  by  the  screeching  of  the  axles. 

"  Say,  boys,  you  ought  to  keep  your  axles  greased. 
Make  it  easier  for  the  horse,  and  not  so  melodious,  as  we 
jog  along  life's  weary  way." 

"  You  ought  to  grease  them,"  said  Jim.  "  We  have 
nothing  to  do  with  this  rig." 

Maguire  laughed  loudly. 

"  That's  so.  I  forgot.  I'll  attend  to  it  in  the  morn- 
ing. Hello,  stranger,  where  are  you  off  to  this  time  o' 
night?" 

Maguire  pulled  up  the  horse,  which  evinced  no  desire 
to  proceed  against  the  will  of  its  driver,  and  a  man  ap- 
peared out  of  the  darkness,  approaching  in  a  friendly 
way,  coming  to  a  halt  and  placing  his  foot  on  the  hub 
of  the  front  wheel,  peering  up  at  them  as  if  to  learn 
whether  he  had  been  accosted  by  neighbours  or  not.  Any- 
how, he  was  disposed  to  have  a  friendly  chat. 

"  I'm  a-goin'  home,  where  be  you  a-goin'?  " 

"  Well,  we're  looking  for  a  hotel,  perhaps  you  can  give 
us  some  directions." 

"  I  thought  you  were  strangers,  fur  I  didn't  recognise 
the  horse  as  belonging  to  these  parts.  Guess  ye  kind  of 


"  He'll  turn  your  current  in  a  ditch  "       27 

got  out  of  yer  way,  hain't  ye?  Ye  won't  find  no  hotels  in 
this  district,  leastways  I  never  hear  tell  of  'em.  Won't 
find  a  tavern  nearer  than  Ann  Arbor  or  Ypsilanti,  and 
there  they  do  stick  it  on  to  ye.  A  dollar  a  day,  a  dollar 
a  day  every  time,  an'  don't  you  forget  it.  If  a  man's  got 
plenty  of  money,  all  right ;  if  not,  the  best  thing  he  can  do 
is  keep  away  from  them." 

"  They  do  sock  it  to  you,  don't  they  ?  " 

"You  bet.  I  donno  jest  where  ye  cud  stay;  ye  see 
folks  is  pretty  busy  jest  now,  an'  full  up  with  hired  men. 
Ain't  looking  fur  a  job  harvesting,  be  ye?  fur  if  that's 
the  case  I  guess  there  won't  be  no  trouble.  Hands  is 
powerful  skase  this  season ;  most  always  are,  come  to 
think  of  it." 

"  Well,  we  wouldn't  object  to  a  job  if  we  found  one 
to  suit  us,  at  least  we  would  take  supper  and  bed  to-night, 
and  then  see  about  the  job  in  the  morning  after  break- 
fast." 

"  I  guess  us  farmers  gets  lots  o'  such  chances  as  that. 
It  don't  happen  ye  be  pedlars,  do  it?" 

"  It  happens  kind  of  that  way." 

"  Well,  them  sort  of  folks  don't  jest  'pear  to  be  real 
pop'lar  in  the  country,  most  farmers  'lowin'  they're  sort 
o'  cheats,  puttin'  it  straight  like,  and  meanin'  no  of- 
fence, present  company  bein'  excepted,  in  a  manner  o' 
speakin'." 

"  Certainly,  certainly ;  we're  all  of  us  frauds  more  or 
less,  excepting  the  farmers  who  wouldn't  cheat  in  meas- 
ure or  quality  if  you  paid  'em  for  it."  The  man  with  his 
foot  on  the  hub  laughed  heartily  at  this. 

"  Well,  them  as  don't  cheat  finds  it  mighty  hard  to 
make  a  livin'  nowadays.  Didn't  ust  to  be  so  in  the  old 
times,  but  I  donno,  I  donno.  Guess  take  'em  year  in  an' 
year  out,  folks  is  pretty  much  the  same,  straight  along. 
Kin  ye  bind  grain  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know  about  binding  it,  but  I  would  guarantee 
to  eat  some  of  the  product  if  I  got  a  chance.  You  see,  we 
ain't  so  much  looking  for  a  harvest  field  to-night  as  a 
supper  table.' 

"  How  far'd  ye  come  ?  " 


28  The  Victors 

"  We  drove  from  Ann  Arbor." 

"  Well,  your  horse  looks  about  done  out,  and  I  guess 
it  ain't  much  of  a  horse  when  it  isn't  done  out.  Get  left 
on  a  trade?  " 

"  No.    Bought  it  for  cash." 

"  Want  to  make  a  dicker?  I've  got  one  I'll  trade  ye  fur 
fifteen  dollars  to  boot,  an'  then  I'd  be  losing  money,  for  I 
don't  see  much  in  that  there  horse." 

"  Of  course  you  don't,  because  you're  no  judge  of 
horse  flesh.  That's  a  Kentucky  bred  animal.  There's 
blood  in  that  horse,  and  it  can  do  its  good  mile  in  two 
hours  without  turning  a  hair,  and  I've  got  money  to  bet 
that  it  can." 

"  Ye  hev,  eh?  I've  got  a  wooden  horse  at  home  '11  beat 
that  nag  o'  yourn,  even  start  from  a  hilltop — providin'  th' 
hill's  steep  enough." 

The  man  laughed  boisterously  at  his  own  humour, 
being  thus  always  sure  of  an  appreciative  audience.  Jim 
spoke  up: 

"  This  arranging  of  horse  trades  and  horse  races  is  all 
very  well  at  the  proper  time,  but  this  isn't  the  time.  I'm 
hungry,  and  the  question  I'd  like  to  see  discussed  is  where 
are  we  going  to  get  something  to  eat.  I  suppose  you 
couldn't  give  us  a  snack?" 

"  O  good  Lord,  no,"  cried  the  man  hastily,  taking  his 
foot  down  from  the  hub  and  retiring  modestly  a  few 
steps  back  into  the  darkness,  his  sense  of  hospitality  evi- 
dently taking  fright  at  the  thought  of  three  persons  and  a 
horse.  "  I'm  on  a  small  place  a  long  way  from  here,  livin' 
in  a  kind  of  shanty  at  that,  an'  my  old  woman's  gone  to 
bed  long  ago,  an'  I  expect  I'll  catch  gaily- wast  as  it  is  fur 
bein'  out  s'late  m'self.  No.  I'll  tell  ye  what  to  do.  You 
go  right  on  till  you  come  to  the  schoolhouse,  you'll  see  th' 
lights  in  it  at  the  next  turn,  everybody  in  the  section's 
there,  'cept  me,  an'  I've  just  left.  If  you  say  you  want 
a  job  to-morrow  you'll  have  lots  o'  chances  fur  supper 
to-night." 

"  What's  on  at  the  schoolhouse  ?  Prayer  meeting,  sing- 
ing school,  magic  lantern  show,  or  what  ?  " 

"  No,  tain't  one  ort'other;  it's  an  'lection  meeting." 


"He'll  turn  your  current  in  a  ditch"      29 

"  What !    An  election  at  this  time  of  the  year  ?  " 

"  Well,  a  sorter  kinder  'lection  in  a  way  of  speakin', 
'special  'lection  fur  this  here  district  an'  the  'joinin'  one. 
Seems  kinder  stupid  to  put  it  right  in  th'  middle  ah  har- 
vest time,  but  that's  all  them  folks  knows  what  fixes  up 
them  things.  Ye  see  the  question  comes  down  to  this : 
Ditch  or  no  ditch?  " 

"  Well,  that's  perfectly  clear  ...  as  clear  as  ditch- 
water.  Which  side  are  you  on  ?  " 

"  Oh,  say,  Maguire,"  protested  Jim,  "  I'm  on  the  side  of 
supper,  and  hang  the  ditch.  Let's  get  on,  there's  no  use 
in  pottering  away  here.  I  believe  Ben's  asleep  as  it  is, 
and  I  know  the  horse  dropped  off  long  ago." 

"  Now,  you  keep  your  hair  on.  Don't  you  fret.  If  you 
want  to  succeed  in  a  neighbourhood  you  must  post  your- 
self on  the  subject  that  interests  that  neighbourhood.  Go 
on  about  this  here  ditch,  stranger." 

The  stranger,  seeing  that  there  was  no  further  hint  of 
attack  on  his  larder,  had  advanced  again  and  had  replaced 
his  cowhide  boot  on  the  hub,  quite  palpably  prepared  to 
spend  the  night  in  amiable  converse,  in  spite  of  his 
formerly  expressed  fear  of  his  wife. 

"  Well,  I'm  agin  it  myself ;  so's  most  o'  them  at  the 
schoolhouse,  and  that's  why  we  met  to  take  steps  for  a 
veto  at  the  polls.  Ye  see  they  think  they  want  a  big  ditch 
t'  dreen  a  swamp  a  few  miles  from  here,  an'  put  a  tax  on 
all  the  property  all  round  to  pay  fur  it,  so  much  a  year 
fur  ten  years.  Well,  we  say  let  them  as  wants  this  ditch 
pay  fur  it.'' 

;'  That  seems  reasonable." 

"  Well,  the  other  fellows  don't  want  to  do  that ;  they 
say  it's  for  the  improvement  of  all  this  part  of  the  coun- 
try, and  so  all  this  part  of  the  country  ought  to  be  taxed 
fur  it." 

"  That  seems  reasonable,  too.  So  you're  going  to  vote 
on  it.  Which  side's  going  to  win  ?  " 

"  Well,  I  cud  tell  ye  that  better  day  after  'lection.  It's 
about  nip  an'  tuck,  six  o'  one  and  half  a  dozen  o'  t'other." 

"  All  right.     Most  interesting  situation.     Thanks  ever 


30  The  Victors 

so  much.  Think  they  won't  all  have  left  the  school- 
house  by  the  time  we  can  get  there  ?  " 

"  Well,  I  guess  not  if  ye  hurry." 

"  Oh,  we've  just  got  the  animal  for  speed.  Good-night. 
Git  up,  there." 

The  harvest  moon  had  risen  while  they  talked  and  had 
gradually  outlined  the  beauties  of  the  landscape  as 
a  picture  is  slowly  developed  on  a  photographic  plate. 
The  plaintive  cry  of  the  whippoorwill  came  from  a  neigh- 
bouring thicket,  ending  abruptly  in  a  "  kuh-whip  "  as  the 
screeching  waggon  approached.  The  schoolhouse  proved 
to  be  a  wooden  structure  with  three  windows  on  each 
side  and  a  small  porch  and  double  door  at  the  end  facing 
the  road.  It  stood  some  distance  back  from  the  thorough- 
fare near  the  centre  of  a  plot  half  an  acre  or  so  in  area, 
surrounded  by  a  board  fence.  The  gate  had  been  taken 
off  its  hinges  and  had  disappeared,  and  the  ground 
was  as  barren  as  a  similar  piece  of  the  great  desert.  Not 
a  tree  nor  a  shrub  nor  a  flower  gladdened  the  eye  in 
the  educational  yard,  although  this  was  a  land  of  trees, 
shrubs  and  flowers. 

The  lights  were  out  in  the  schoolhouse,  and  the  meeting 
had  dispersed,  but  a  number  of  enthusiasts  lingered  round 
the  gateway,  some  leaning  against  the  fence,  others  seated 
on  the  inclined  board,  which  from  its  rain-shedding  func- 
tion was  nailed  to  the  top  of  the  cedar  posts  at  an  angle 
slightly  less  than  that  of  the  roof  of  a  house,  and  thus,  on 
occasion,  formed  a  somewhat  insecure  elevated  bench. 
Some  smoked  and  listened.  Others  laid  down  the  law  in 
animated  fashion. 

"  Good-evening,  gentlemen,"  cried  Maguire,  pulling  up 
opposite  the  group. 

"  EveninY'  came  the  answering  salutation  from  several, 
all  talk  ceasing  for  the  moment. 

"  Well,  gentlemen,"  said  Maguire,  facing  round  to 
them,  dropping  the  reins  and  throwing  his  right  leg  over 
the  end  of  the  seat,  letting  his  foot  swing  easily,  "  this  is 
going  to  be  a  pretty  close  contest." 

"  You  bet  it  is,"  cried  one,  a  trace  of  astonishment  in 


"  He'll  turn  your  current  in  a  ditch"       31 

his  voice  at  being  accosted  by  a  stranger  who  showed 
such  familiarity  with  purely  local  affairs. 

"  The  chances  are,  gentlemen,  that  this  here  ditch  is 
going  to  be  dug,  and  every  spadeful  taken  out  of  the 
trench  takes  a  portion  of  cash  out  of  your  pockets,  and, 
as  times  go,  there  ain't  any  too  much  money  there  now 
compared  with  the  amount  of  work  you  have  to  put  in  to 
accumulate  it.  Now,  offhand,  the  way  it  strikes  a  sane 
man  without  interest  in  the  question  either  way  is  that 
whoever  wants  that  there  ditch  dug  let  them  put  their 
hands  in  their  own  pockets  and  pay  for  it,  and  meanwhile 
keep  their  claws  out  of  your  purses  and  mine." 

"  Hear,  hear !  "  "  Bully  fur  you !  "  "  That's  the  way  to 
talk !  "  "  That  hits  the  nail  on  the  head  !  "  "  Now  you're 
shouting !  "  were  some  of  the  cries  that  greeted  these  sen- 
timents expressed  from  the  light  waggon. 

"  You  got  a  vote  in  these  parts  ?  "  inquired  a  cautious 
old  farmer  who  was  leaning  against  the  gate-post. 

"  No,  I  ain't,  but  I  got  something  that's  a  darned  sight 
better;  I've  got  a  proposal  to  make  and  the  brains  and 
the  energy  to  back  it.  You  hear  'the  toot  of  my  bazoo. 
I'm  a  pedlar  myself  and  I  go  all  over  this  country,  and  I 
hear  what  people  are  talking  about.  They  talk  freely 
with  me,  because  they  know  I  haven't  a  vote,  and  I'm 
here  to-day  and  gone  to-morrow,  so  it  don't  make  no 
difference  one  way  or  t'other,  an'  I  talk  free  with  them, 
just  as  I  do  with  you  and  everybody  else.  All  right. 
Consequence  is  that  the  way  you're  a-going  on  you're 
going  to  get  licked,  an'  that's  what's  the  matter  with  the 
hoss." 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know  'bout  that,"  demurred  a  bystander. 

"  Of  course  you  don't:  that's  why  I'm  telling  ye.  See? 
You'll  know  about  it  after  the  voting,  but  that'll  be  too 
late.  Now's  the  time  to  know,  when  it  will  do  some  good. 
I  tell  you,  you're  licked  at  this  present  moment,  and  you 
don't  need  to  take  the  trouble  of  going  to  the  polls  at  all, 
because  your  staying  home  will  only  make  the  ditch  ma- 
jority bigger  and  won't  affect  the  result.  The  taxes  will 
be  there  just  the  same.  Now,  what  you  lack  is  organ- 
isation ;  you  want  a  machine  on  this  thing.  But  organisa- 


32  The  Victors 

tion  takes  time  and  you  haven't  the  time  to  spare  at  this 
season  of  the  year.  Think  of  the  darn  fool  idea  of  bring- 
ing on  a  vote  right  in  the  middle  of  harvest !  That  shows 
you  how  much  those  in  authority  know  of  the  wants  of  the 
farming  community.  Now,  I'll  take  hold  of  this  organ- 
isation business,  and  I've  got  two  good  men  here  to  help 
me.  We'll  first  canvass  the  section  and  find  out  how 
everybody  is  going  to  vote.  Just  as  it  is  in  this  crowd, 
there  will  be  some  fellows  on  the  fence."  (There  was  a 
laugh  at  this,  and  Maguire,  warming  with  his  theme, 
stood  up  in  the  waggon.)  "Very  well,  it's  the  simplest 
possible  question  in  addition  and  subtraction.  Say  we 
want  five  or  ten — we  find  that  out  when  the  canvass  is 
finished — we've  got  to  induce  five  or  ten  of  those  fellows 
on  the  fence  to  come  down,  and  to  come  down  in  our  yard 
at  that." 

"  Whatter  you  goin'  to  make  out  of  it  ?  "  asked  the 
cautious  individual. 

"  Now  that's  the  way  I  like  to  hear  a  man  talk,"  con- 
tinued Maguire,  admiringly.  "  What  am  I  going  to  make 
out  of  it?  If  I  told  you  I  was  doing  this  for  my  health, 
or  because  I  simply  loved  this  farming  community,  you'd 
know  I  was  a  liar,  wouldn't  you — or  a  politician,  which 
is  exactly  the  same  thing?  Now,  as  I  told  you,  I'm  a 
pedlar,  and  if  I  make  a  good  living  at  it  that's  simply 
becatise  I  sell  goods  at  a  price  about  half,  and  less  than 
half  you  could  get  them  elsewhere,  same  quality.  You 
needn't  laugh,  I  can  prove  it  to  you  now  if  anybody's 
got  some  cash  in  his  pocket.  Any  gentleman  oblige  me 
by  handing  up  a  dollar  and  see  how  much  I  give  for  it  ? 
No  takers  ?  This  isn't  market  day  I  suppose.  No  gentle- 
man's entitled  to  question  my  remarks  unless  he  stands 
ready  to  test  'em  by  producing  the  coin.  It's  a  case  of  put 
up  or  shut  up.  Well,  as  I  was  saying,  I've  made  money 
at  this  business  simply  because  nobody  can  compete  with 
me.  That's  right.  I'm  giving  it  to  you  straight.  Why, 
one  of  the  biggest  officials  in  Ann  Arbor,  this  very  even- 
ing, got  out  a  livery  stable  rig  and  followed  me  along  the 
Ypsilanti  road  and  bought  two  dollars'  worth  of  goods 
from  me,  and  it  paid  him  to  do  it,  too,  after  settling  for  the 


"  He'll  turn  your  current  in  a  ditch  "       33 

buggy  and  all.  You  can  ask  these  two  young  men  who  are 
with  me  if  you  won't  take  my  word  for  it,  and  I  never 
saw  either  of  them  before  to-day;  ain't  it  just  as  I  state 
it,  boys?"  (appealing  to  Ben  and  Jim).  "You  saw  him 
follow  me  and  you  heard  the  very  first  words  he  spoke. 
'  Are  you  the  fellow  that  was  peddling  in  Ann  Arbor  this 
afternoon  ? '  he  says.  You  heard  him,  and  you  saw  me 
sell  him  the  goods  and  get  the  two  dollars,  now  didn't 
you  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Ben.  "  He  did  follow  you  in  a  buggy,  and 
you  did  sell  him  two  dollars'  worth  of  goods,  but- — " 

"  Why,  of  course.  I  wouldn't  give  you  any  guff,  for 
I  know  'twouldn't  be  any  use.  But  I  hope  to  be  struck 
in  my  tracks  if  it  isn't  true.  Well,  then,  I  expect  to  do  a 
good  deal  of  business  in  this  district,  and  the  better  I'm 
known  the  more  business  I'll  do,  and  when  I  leave  you'll 
all  be  after  me,  like  that  fellow  in  Ann  Arbor." 

"  What'll  you  be  trying  to  get  away  with  ?    HorSes  ?  " 

"  That's  all  right,  boys ;  I  can  take  a  joke  as  well  as  the 
next  man.  I  don't  need  no  horses,  because  I've  got  the 
best  nag  in  the  place,  as  you  can  see  for  yourselves. 
Racing  stock,  that  animal  is.  Got  overheated  winning  the 
Darby  at  Louisville,  and  has  been  trying  to  get  rested  ever 
since.  No,  gentlemen ;  I  don't  ask  a  cent  for  organising 
this  campaign  and  putting  the  other  fellows  in  the  ditch 
they  don't  want  to  pay  for,  but  I'd  like  to  have  a  little  of 
your  good  will,  and  when  you  come  to  do  business  with 
me — any  article  not  found  satisfactory,  money  cheerfully 
refunded.  And  now — to  come  to  the  point,  for  it's  get- 
ting late — and  I  don't  seem  to  be  able  to  get  a  word  in 
edgeways  in  this  discussion — who's  the  leader  on  our  side 
of  the  fence,  or  I  should  say  on  our  side  of  the  ditch  ?  " 

Several  answered  promptly :  "  Byfield.  Step  forward, 
Byfield.  He's  asking  for  you." 

"  All  right,  Mr.  Byfield,  what  do  you  say  ?  "  queried 
Maguire,  glancing  over  the  assemblage,  when  an  elderly 
man  who  had  taken  no  part  in  the  debate,  hitherto  stepped 
forward  and  cleared  his  throat.  Maguire  fastened  his 
gaze  on  Byfield  as  if  he  had  known  all  along  who  he 
was. 


34  The  Victors 

"  I  guess  it's  pretty  much  as  the  stranger  says,"  re- 
marked Byfield  slowly,  "  and  we'll  need  all  the  help  we 
can  get.  If  these  men  don't  want  any  cash  out  of  pocket, 
I  guess  it  might  pay  us  to  listen  to  what  their  plans  are ; 
but  I  for  one  don't  guarantee  anything." 

"  Certainly  not  and  'nuff  sed,"  proclaimed  Maguire, 
cordially.  "  Well,  as  I  remarked,  it  is  getting  late  and 
everybody  wants  to  go  home.  I  know  I'm  tired,  for 
we  came  lickety-blinder  all  the  way  from  Ann  Arbor  to 
be  present  at  this  meeting  and  nearly  arrived  too  late,  all 
on  account  of  this  official  delaying  us.  I'll  see  you  in 
the  morning,  Mr.  Byfield,  and  lay  my  plans  before  you, 
and  now  if  you  will  oblige  us  by  telling  me  the  way  to  the 
nearest  hotel  we'll  be  jogging  on,  for  we  took  such  a  hur- 
ried supper  at  Ann  Arbor  that  I  want  to  get  something 
more  to  eat." 

"  As  fur  a  hotel,"  said  Byfield,  solemnly,  "  there  ain't 
any,  but  if  you  don't  mind  roughing  it  a  bit  you  could 
come  with  me.  I  kin  give  you  a  place  to  put  the  horse, 
and  a  bed  in  the  loft  if  you  don't  mind  sleeping  three 
together." 

"  Oh,  anything  will  do  for  us.  I'd  rather  sleep  in  the 
hay-mow  than  anywhere  else.  These  boys  will  take  to  the 
loft,  and  I'll  bunk  in  the  hay.  Lord !  I  know  how  crowded 
things  are  at  a  farmhouse  in  harvest  time.  I  was  raised 
on  a  farm.  Well,  boys,  so  long.  See  you  later." 

With  this  he  took  up  the  reins  and  drove  slowly  down 
the  road,  the  farmer  refusing  his  gracious  offer  of  a  ride, 
saying  he  preferred  to  walk  by  the  side  of  the  waggon, 
one  son  and  a  hired  man  following  in  the  wake.  The  rest 
of  the  people  dispersed,  some  going  one  way  and  some  an- 
other, their  voices  carrying  far  in  the  still  evening  air. 

Byfield  was  silent,  and  Maguire,  having  accomplished 
what  he  set  out  to  accomplish,  seemed  to  have  no  further 
desire  to  speak.  Ben  and  Jim  had  got  out  of  the  democrat 
and  were  walking  together  close  behind  it,  talking  to 
each  other  in  whispers. 

"  What  are  we  to  do  to  get  back  the  licence  and  secure 
possession  of  our  belongings  again?  The  more  I  see  of 
this  fellow  the  less  I  like  him,  and  I  don't  propose  to  be 


"  He'll  turn  your  current  in  a  ditch "      35 

dragged  through  life  after  him  in  this  manner,"  said 
Ben. 

The  practical  minded  Jim  replied: 

"  I'm  content  to  be  dragged  in  his  wake  until  we  have 
something  to  eat  and  a  night's  rest.  He  seems  to  be 
heading  in  the  direction  of  those  two  requisites  with  a  di- 
rectness that  arouses  my  admiration.  To-morrow,  with 
the  help  of  some  of  the  farm  hands  and  a  few  of  the 
neighbours,  we  will  drag  the  licence  from  him  if  he 
won't  give  it  up  peaceably.  I  rather  imagine  that  the 
reason  he  doesn't  want  to  room  with  us  is  because  he 
fears  we  will  regain  possession  of  it  while  he  is  asleep." 

"  I  shouldn't  wonder." 

"  Well,  we'll  tackle  the  question  and  him  to-morrow 
when  we're  fresh." 

The  procession  turned  through  an  open  gateway  into 
an  ample  farmyard,  walled  in  on  three  sides  by  a 
group  of  buildings  comprising  barns,  stables,  drivehouses 
and  sheds.  The  hired  man,  who  had  evinced  a  warm  ad- 
miration of  Maguire's  oratorical  gifts,  assisted  expertly 
at  the  unhitching  of  the  horse. 

The  house,  a  short  distance  from  the  barns,  was,  like 
them,  of  wood,  and  although  it  needed  a  coat  of  paint 
was  nevertheless  a  homelike  and  comfortable-looking 
structure,  shaded  by  clustering  locust  trees.  A  well  with 
a  board  roof  over  it,  having  underneath  the  roof  a  roller 
round  which  was  coiled  many  turns  of  rope  that  testified 
to  the  depth  of  the  excavation,  was  situated  near  the  rear 
of  the  house.  One  end  of  the  rope  was  attached  to  a  full 
bucket  that  rested  on  the  ledge.  Maguire  lifted  the 
bucket  to  his  lips  and  took  a  long,  satisfying  drink,  re- 
freshing on  a  warm  night. 

There  was  not  a  light  visible  in  the  house,  and  the  party 
went  round  to  the  back  and  entered  the  kitchen.  Here  the 
son  had  lighted  a  candle,  and  had  occupied  the  time  the 
others  spent  at  the  stables  in  setting  out  bread,  butter,  a 
pitcher  of  milk  and  some  corned  beef.  The  silent  farmer 
made  no  complaint  that  the  pedlar  and  his  two  comrades 
did  not  do  ample  justice  to  the  fare  thus  spread  before 
them. 


CHAPTER  III 

"  LET    ME   BUY   YOUR    FRIENDLY    HELP  " 

BEN  and  Jim  thought  Farmer  Byfield  rather  a  quiet, 
reserved  man  the  evening  they  first  met  him,  but  they  la- 
boured under  no  such  delusion  next  morning.  The 
farmer's  voice  rang  through  the  house  in  vibrant  tones 
that  rendered  all  further  sleep  impossible,  as  indeed  was 
the  intention. 

"  Get  up ;  get  up,"  he  cried.  "  What's  the  matter  with 
you?  Want  to  lie  in  bed  all  day?  Think  it's  Sunday,  I 
s'pose,  and  here  it's  half-past  four  if  it's  a  minute,  and  no 
one  to  feed  the  horses  yet.  Say,  Sam,  d'you  hear  ?  " 

"  Oh,  I  hear  all  right  enough,"  growled  Sam,  the  eldest 
son,  sleepily.  "  Nobody  could  help  hearing  if  he  was 
alive,  and  within  a  mile  of  the  house." 

"Get  up,  then.  Ought  t'have  been  out  long  ago.  Looks 
like  rain  too ;  thought  last  night  it  did." 

"  No  such  luck,"  murmured  the  hired  man.  But  they 
all  got  up  nevertheless,  yawning  industriously. 

The  farmer  had  put  time  forward  when  he  said  it  was 
half-past  four.  It  was  not  so  late  in  the  day,  and  there 
was  still  time  to  do  a  good  morning's  work.  Every  clock- 
in  the  house  was  deliberately  set  from  half  to  three-quar- 
ters of  an  hour  fast,  and  for  some  occult  reason  they  were 
always  kept  thus  far  in  the  future,  although  they  deceived 
nobody.  Byfield  had  been  afoot  for  some  time  and  had 
already  set  the  fire  going  in  the  kitchen  stove  before  call- 
ing the  others.  A  successful  farmer  differs  from  the  Cen- 
turion of  Scripture  in  that  he  says  "  come  "  instead  of 
"go." 

The  first  to  appear  was  not  one  of  those  called  so  vo- 
ciferously, but  a  strikingly  handsome  and  healthy  young 
girl  of  about  eighteen,  her  large  eyes  lustrous  and  dewy 

36 


"  Let  me  buy  your  friendly  help  "        37 

with  sleep.  Her  father  had  placed  the  kettle  on  the  stove, 
where  it  was  already  singing,  and  the  girl,  hardly  yet 
awake,  set  herself  to  the  preparation  of  the  ample  and 
early  breakfast.  Presently,  in  the  broad  pan,  were  frying 
the  disks  of  potato  sliced  from  those  boiled  the  day  before, 
simmering  and  browning,  of  delicious  odour,  a  scent 
for  a  hungry  man  to  sniff  appetisingly  in  the  keen,  cool 
air  of  the  morning.  From  another  pan  the  no  less  tempt- 
some  aroma  of  frying  ham  mingled  with  that  of  the  bub- 
bling coffee  in  the  capacious  tin  coffee-pot,  set  back 
on  the  top  of  the  stove  near  the  oven.  Lottie  was  spread- 
ing the  tablecloth  when  her  brother  came  in,  rubbing  his 
eyes. 

"  Hello,  Lot,"  was  his  greeting,  "  we  raked  in  three 
young  men  for  you  last  night — two  in  the  loft  and  one 
out  in  the  barn.  You  pays  your  money  and  takes  your 
choice." 

"  You  keep  quiet,"  answered  the  girl ;  "  it's  time  you 
were  out  at  the  stables.  Breakfast  will  be  ready  before 
you  have  the  horses  fed." 

"  It  won't  be  ready  sooner'n  I  am,  and  as  for  the  horses, 
what  does  a  fellow  keep  a  father  for?  I  tell  you,  Lot,  that 
fellow  out  in  the  barn  can  talk.  You  ought  to  hear  him ; 
just  like  a  streak.  I  guess  his  tongue  is  hung  on  a 
swivel." 

"  Who  is  he  ?    Another  hired  man  ?  " 

"  No,  I  guess  they're  all  three  pedlars.  The  fellow  out- 
side's  got  a  horse  and  rig  you  wouldn't  give  ten  cents  for." 

Lottie  gave  expression  to  an  impatient  ejaculation  of 
contempt.  A  hired  man  was  a  poor  enough  creature  in 
her  estimation,  but  he  was  a  prince  to  a  pedlar.  The 
hired  man  had  passed  through  the  kitchen  while  brother 
and  sister  were  talking  together,  and  had  gone  quietly 
out.  Ben  and  Jim  now  appeared,  and  gave  a  cordial 
"  good-morning "  to  the  pair,  which  was  returned  with 
warmth,  at  least  by  Sam. 

"  If  you  fellows  want  to  wash,"  said  Sam,  as  if  it  were 
a  custom  the  observance  of  which  might  be  open  to  con- 
scientious objection,  "  there's  a  tin  basin  out  on  the  stoop, 
and  water  in  the  rain  barrel  under  the  eaves-trough." 


38  The  Victors 

Lottie  seemed  barely  to  cast  a  glance  at  the  young  men, 
but  there  was  an  unmistakable  air  of  town  about  them 
that  swiftly  mitigated  her  previous  disdainful  classifica- 
tion, of  them  as  pedlars.  While  they  were  conversing  with 
her  brother  she  went  quietly  to  the  stoop,  whisked  away 
the  soiled  towel  that  hung  on  a  peg  under  the  veranda  and 
substituted  a  clean  one. 

"  I  wonder  if  your  friend  is  up  yet,  and  if  he  has  given 
his  horse  a  feed.  The  nag  looked  as  if  he  needed  one 
badly  last  night." 

''  The  horse  is  ours,  not  his,"  said  Ben. 

"  That  so  ?    I  thought  he  owned  the  whole  outfit." 

"  He  talks  as  if  he  owned  the  earth,"  put  in  Jim. 

"  Oh,  isn't  he  a  friend  of  yours  ?  " 

"  We  never  saw  him  till  last  evening.  We've  been  try- 
ing to  do  a  little  in  the  peddling  line — mighty  little  it  was, 
too — during  the  last  few  weeks,  and  this  man  came  on  us 
while  we  were  resting  near  Ann  Arbor.  He  hadn't 
any— 

"  Still  we  don't  know  anything  against  him,"  inter- 
rupted the  conscientious  Ben,  who,  with  a  glance  at  his 
companion,  intimated  that  perhaps  it  was  just  as  well  not 
to  talk  too  freely  in  the  presence  of  strangers,  a  hint  which 
Jim  accepted  in  silence. 

"  Of  course,"  continued  Ben,  "  we  don't  know  anything 
much  in  his  favour  either.  All  I  wanted  to  say  was, 
that  you  are  about  as  well  acquainted  with  him  as  we 
are." 

"  Oh,  I  see.   I  thought  you  were  all  the  one  crowd." 

"  No,  Ben  and  I  are  the  one  crowd.  Mr.  Maguire  is 
the  other,"  said  Jim. 

They  were  out  on  the  stoop  at  the  side  of  the  kitchen, 
and  the  farm  boy  of  twenty  still  lingered  near  them  as 
they  put  the  tin  basin  and  the  collected  rain  to  their  uses. 
There  was  little  in  their  conversation  that  indicated  a 
college  training,  yet  there  was  an  undefmable  something 
that  fascinated  Sam  and  held  him  in  bondage.  He  saw  in 
them  advance  agents  of  the  great  and  stirring  world  of 
which  he  knew  little  except  by  hearsay,  and  they  pre- 
sented to  him  all  the  mystery  of  things  unknown,  although 


"  Let  me  buy  your  friendly  help  "        39 

in  point  of  fact  they  were  probably  quite  as  innocent  and 
ignorant  of  the  ways  of  the  city  as  he.  The  farmer  ap- 
proached from  the  barn  and  interrupted  the  conference. 
"  Say,  Sam,  where  ye  been  all  morning?  Get  a  move  on 
you  and  help  the  hired  man." 

Sam  achieved  the  requisite  motion,  and  the  three  walked 
together  to  the  farm  buildings  some  distance  from  the 
house,  greeted  in  advance  by  the  boisterous  laughter  of  the 
hired  man,  which  led  Ben  and  Jim  to  the  accurate  con- 
clusion that  Maguire  was  up  and  holding  some  converse 
with  the  help. 

"  Hello,  boys !  "  roared  Maguire,  when  the  three  hove 
in  sight.  "  This  is  a  fine  time  in  the  morning  to  be  getting 
astir.  If  I  were  paying  you  wages  you  would  hear  from 
me.  This  man  and  I  and  father  having  done  all  the 
chores,  now  you  appear  on  the  scene.  I've  fed  Rosinante, 
and  the  grateful  animal  said  to  me,  '  I  suppose  those  two 
cusses  are  asleep  yet.'  A  merciful  man's  merciful  to  his 
beast." 

"  Or  even  to  some  one  else's  beast,"  commented  Jim. 

"  Quite  so,  quite  so.  The  horse  doesn't  mind  as  long's 
somebody  puts  down  the  hay." 

The  hired  man  laughed  heartily. 

"  Jest  hear  him  talk !  You'd  think  he'd  been  up  fur 
hours,  an'  the  square  fact  is  I  come  durn  near  feeding 
him  to  the  horses  myself.  He  says  I  stuck  the  pitchfork 
in  his  leg  as  'twas.  I  tell  him  I  took  him  fur  fodder 
'cause  he's  so  green,"  and  this  time  the  hired  man  was 
merry  over  his  own  wit. 

"  That's  about  right,"  admitted  Maguire,  "  the  only 
drawback  in  sleeping  on  a  hay-mow  is  that  some  fool  will 
come  along  before  it's  hardly  light  and  try  to  jam  you 
down  the  horse's  manger  before  you're  awake.  Still,  I 
suppose  he  thinks  all  flesh  is  grass  and  as  all  grass  be- 
comes hay  by  and  by,  he  should  therefore  throw  any 
tramp  found  in  a.mow  down  to  the  horses.  Is  that  your 
idea?" 

"  Jest  about  it,"  chuckled  the  hired  man. 

"  We  would  like  to  have  a  little  talk  with  you  pri- 
vately," said  Monro  to  Maguire. 


4O  The  Victors 

"  What !  Before  breakfast  ?  Not  likely.  Business 
transacted  at  this  office  only  during  business  hours.  Call 
upon  a  man  of  business  in  hours  of  business,  only  on  busi- 
ness, transact  your  business  and  go  about  your  business, 
and  give  him  time  to  attend  to  his  business,  or  words  to 
that  effect.  Eh,  hired  man?  Isn't  that  right?  That's 
my  motto,  and  I'm  giving  it  to  'em  straight,  as  the  old 
woman  said." 

"  You  bet,"  agreed  the  hired  man. 

When  the  morning's  work  about  the  barn  was  finished, 
they  all  went  together  to  the  house  and  in  to  breakfast. 
Here,  for  a  wonder,  Maguire  was  momentarily  nonplussed, 
for  he  had  not  expected  to  see  so  pretty  a  girl  at  the  table. 
The  night's  lodging  in  the  hay  had  left  on  the  young  man 
many  a  particle  to  attest  the  nature  of  his  bedding,  and  his 
hair  was  powdered  with  clover  seed.  It  was  one  of 
Patrick's  principles  to  make  himself  entirely  at  home 
wherever  he  was,  and  his  method  of  doing  this  was  to 
appear  as  much  as  possible  like  his  host,  so  he  had  allowed 
the  reminiscences  of  the  hay-mow  to  remain  on  his  person, 
a  neglect  which  he  regretted  as  soon  as  he  saw  before 
him  the  trim  figure  of  the  fair  Lottie.  The  farmer  was 
already  seated  at  the  head  of  the  table  heaping  up  liberal 
portions  of  the  food  provided  on  plate  after  plate.  Each 
one  sat  down  as  he  came  in,  without  ceremony,  throw- 
ing his  hat  in  a  corner  or  leaving  it  out  on  the  stoop. 
Mrs.  Byfield  was  busy  pouring  out  the  coffee,  and  a  great 
pitcher  of  milk  stood  at  her  elbow  with  glasses  round 
it  should  any  prefer  the  fluid,  cool  from  the  cellar,  to  the 
beverage  hot  from  the  coffee-pot. 

"  Say !  "  cried  the  hilarious  hired  man  to  all  and  sundry, 
"he's  a  regular  hayseed,  ain't  he?  That's  what  I  tell 
him.  I  guess  you'd  better  send  him  out  to  the  fields,  Mr. 
Byfield,  rather'n  let  him  go  'lectioneering." 

The  farmer  took  no  sort  of  notice,  but  attended  dili- 
gently to  the  business  at  hand,  the  sooner  to  come  at  his 
own  breakfast.  A  meal  with  him  was  not  a  thing  to  be 
enjoyed,  but  a  necessary  and  regrettable  function  to  be 
finished  speedily,  so  that  the  real  occupation  of  a  man's 
life  might  go  on  with  as  little  interruption  as  possible, 


"  Let  me  buy  your  friendly  help  "         41 

"  I — I — I  think  I'll  just  have  a  brush  up  before  sitting 
down,"  stammered  Patrick,  "  if  you'll  excuse  me  for  a 
moment." 

"  Better  let  me  go  over  you  with  the  currycomb,"  cried 
the  hired  man  in  great  glee,  receiving  a  malignant  glance 
from  the  victim,  which  showed  that  the  humour,  such  as 
it  was,  proved  not  so  welcome  as  it  had  appeared  to  be  in 
the  barnyard. 

Maguire  had  recovered  his  equanimity  when  he  re- 
entered. 

"  My,  ain't  he  pretty  ?  "  said  the  hired  man,  loth  to  give 
up  his  advantage. 

"  Now  that's  kind  of  ye,"  said  Patrick,  "  for  it's  not  a 
thing  I'd  have  thought  of  saying  about  you  from  one 
year's  end  to  the  other.  I'm  a  truthful  man,  de  ye  see? 
I'll  take  a  glass  of  milk  if  ye  please,  Miss  Byfield,  it  looks 
cool  and  temptsome  to  a  thirsty  person." 

The  girl  coloured  at  being  thus  directly  addressed  as 
"  Miss,"  and  poured  out  the  milk.  There  had  been  no  in- 
troductions, but  Pat  saw  at  a  glance  that  she  was  the 
daughter  of  the  house,  for,  although  one  or  more  hired 
men  were  regarded  as  indispensable  on  the  fields  in  the 
olden  days,  a  hired  girl  was  considered  effete  luxury  in 
the  house,  as  unnecessary  as  she  was  expensive.  Aside 
from  this,  domestics  were  difficult  to  obtain,  the  girls,  if 
inclined  to  "  work  out,"  preferring  the  higher  wages, 
greater  freedom  and  lighter  duties  of  the  city  to  the 
slavery  of  a  farmhouse. 

The  hired  man,  suddenly  silenced  by  the  unexpected 
retort  of  the  stranger,  a  retort  to  which  he  could  find  no 
effective  reply — in  fact  a  suitable  answer  did  not  occur 
to  him  till  the  following  Sunday — applied  himself  dili- 
gently to  the  breakfast  before  him.  Maguire,  having 
cleared  the  way  of  an  inconvenient  interloper,  easily  kept 
the  conversation  within  his  own  range,  leaving  no  opening 
for  embarrassing  rejoinders  or  equally  embarrassing 
silences. 

"  Mr.  Byfield,  I  would  like  to  have  a  talk  with  you 
about  the  coming  contest,  but  I  suppose  you  won't  have 
yery  much  time  to  spare  after  breakfast." 


42  The  Victors 

"  I  won't  have  any,"  replied  the  farmer  with  rural 
bluntness. 

"  That's  what  I  thought,"  said  Maguire,  not  giving 
the  hired  man  time  to  chuckle.  "  All  I  want  to  know  is 
where  a  list  of  the  voters  of  this  section  can  be  had." 

The  farmer  curtly  gave  him,  the  information. 

"  Well,  then,  I'll  drive  over  there  and  copy  it.  That 
won't  take  long.  The  next  thing  will  be  to  have  some- 
one who  knows  the  men  tell  me  who  are  certain  to  vote 
for  the  ditch  and  who  are  certain  to  vote  against  it.  I  sup- 
pose you  could  do  that  this  evening,  Mr.  Byfield?  " 

The  farmer  made  no  answer  for  some  moments.  Al- 
though hospitable  to  those  he  knew,  he  had  no  desire 
to  burden  himself  with  the  board  and  lodging  of  strangers, 
and  election  day  was  still  some  distance  ahead  in  the 
future.  Here  were  three  unknown  men,  with  one  horse, 
and  to  judge  by  the  confident  manner  in  which  their 
spokesman  mentioned  his  return.,  as  if  it  were  a  settled 
fact,  they  must  imagine  the  bounty  of  the  farmhouse  was 
boundless.  And  all  this  in  the  busiest  time  of  the  year, 
when  everyone  about  the  place  was  overworked,  especially 
the  women,  whose  already  onerous  tasks  would  be  in- 
creased with  every  additional  chair  drawn  up  to  the 
table.  After  all,  why  should  these  three  project  them- 
selves on  him  rather  than  on  any  other  resident  of  the 
neighbourhood?  The  clear  morning  light  had  dispelled 
the  glamour  of  the  night  before,  and  the  farmer  could  not 
imagine  what  possessed  him  when  he  let  them  come  to 
his  house  as  indefinite  guests.  Maguire  watched  him 
narrowly,  as  with  contracted  brows  these  thoughts  per- 
colated through  his  mind,  and  the  young  man  seemed  to 
guess  their  meaning  intuitively,  although  he  said  nothing 
and  waited  for  his  answer. 

"  Well,  I  dun'no  'bout  that,"  slowly  said  the  farmer  at 
last.  "  I  thought  that  was  what  you  were  goin'  to  find  out 
by  peddling  round  the  district." 

"  Yes,  I'm  going  to  peddle  round  the  district  to  find 
out  how  the  doubtful  cases  stand,  but  there's  no  use  in 
my  wasting  time  finding  out  what's  already  known.  It 
won't  take  you  five  minutes  to  go  over  the  list  with  me, 


"  Let  me  buy  your  friendly  help  "        43 

and  I  can  tick  off  them  that's  this  side  or  that  side  of  the 
ditch,  then  I'll  tackle  the  others.  The  doubtful  fellows 
are  my  pizen." 

"  I  don't  know's  I've  got  much  interest  in  this  'lection 
anyhow,"  said  the  goaded  farmer,  to  the  astonishment  of 
his  family,  who  knew  that  he  had.  The  hired  man  leered 
across  the  table  at  Maguire,  and  leaning  over  the  fried 
potatoes  said  in  a  whisper  to  Sam,  audible  to  the  pedlar, 
"  I  guess  somebody's  goin'  to  get  left  on  this  deal." 

"Oh,  you  ain't  got  much  interest  in  it,  ain't  you?"  re- 
marked Maguire,  affably  enough,  but  with  colour  rising. 
"  I  understood  last  night  that  you  had.  Of  course  the 
trouble  with  you  is  that  you  ain't  got  the  time  to  bother 
with  it,  'specially  right  in  the  middle  of  harvest." 

"  That's  it,"  replied  the  farmer,  visibly  relieved  at  find- 
ing his  change  of  front  thus  accounted  for. 

"  Why,  that's  all  right,"  continued  Maguire,  non- 
chalantly. "  A  man  tends  to  this  sort  of  thing  in  cash  or 
kind,  as  the  saying  is.  Fellows  that  have  time  give 
time;  fellows  that  have  money  give  money.  I'll  get  a 
good  subscription  out  of  you  for  the  fund,  and  then  I 
won't  bother  you  again  till  election's  over." 

Byfield  gasped,  and  for  the  first  time  during  the  meal 
stopped  eating,  staring  incredulously  at  his  guest. 

"The  fund?    What  fund?" 

"  Why,  the  election  fund,  of  course.  You  don't  expect 
to  shoot  quail  without  burning  some  powder,  do  you  ?  " 

"  But  you  said  last  night  you  didn't  want  a  cent.  You 
said  it  to  me  when  I  suspected  that  there  was  some  grab 
game  at  the  bottom  of  all  your  talk.  I'll  leave  it  to  any 
one  who  was  there  that  you  did.  They  all  heard  ye." 

"  Of  course  he  did,"  chimed  in  the  hired  man,  with 
ringing  indignation  in  his  voice.  "  You  said  to  him,  Mr. 
Byfield — I  heerd  ye  myself — you  says,  '  Whatter  you 
going  to  make  out  of  this  ? '  An'  he  says,  '  I  hain't 
a-goin'  t'  make  anything.  I'm  goin'  t'  peddle.'  Them's 
his  very  words.  They  wa'n't  no  talk  of  a  fund  then. 
That's  what  he  said,  didn't  he,  Sam?" 

But  Sam  was  watching  the  game  and  saying  nothing. 
He  felt  in  his  bones  that  the  stranger  was  more  than  a 


44  The  Victors 

match  for  all  arrayed  against  him,  and  he  thought  the 
hired  man  would  have  been  wiser  if  he  had  held  his 
peace.  The  hired  man,  meeting  no  response  from  the 
father,  for  whom  he  was  the  champion,  or  the  son  to 
whom  he  had  appealed,  now  turned  to  Ben  and  Jim. 

"  You  were  there.  Didn't  he  say  he  wouldn't  take  a 
cent?" 

''  That  was  certainly  my  understanding  of  his  remark/' 
said  Jim. 

"  There !  "  cried  the  hired  man  in  triumph,  thankful, 
in  the  circumstances,  for  small  mercies.  :'  There,  what 
did  I  tell  you  ?  " 

Maguire,  who  was  no  small  eater,  had  helped  himself 
to  various  dishes  during  the  interval,  and  had  thanked 
Lottie  with  ingratiating  politeness  for  another  glass  of 
milk,  again  bringing  the  colour  to  the  silent  girl's  cheeks 
by  his  frank,  admiring  gaze  while  he  held  forward  his 
glass.  He  allowed  a  perceptible  interval  to  pass  before 
he  spoke  and  then  entirely  ignored  the  energetic  hired 
man,  who  now  began  to  wish  he  had  kept  out  of  the  dis- 
cussion, scenting  coming  ignominy  and  defeat. 

"  You  were  quite  correct,  Mr.  By-field.  I  want  nothing 
at  all  for  myself.  The  fund  isn't  for  me  to  draw  on,  not  a 
bit  of  it,  but  to  pay  the  just  and  reasonable  expenses  of 
the  election.  It's  always  necessary,  if  a  side  is  to  win. 
Whichever  side  has  the  most  money  is  the  one  that 
counts  the  most  votes  these  days." 

"  That  doesn't  sound  very  honest,"  put  in  Ben  the  in- 
corruptible, speaking  for  the  first  time.  The  girl  looked 
from  one  to  the  other  in  wonder.  There  was  evidently 
a  split  in  the  visiting  delegation,  and  she  could  not  under- 
stand it.  Nevertheless  she  was  keenly  interested  in  the 
discussion,  sharing  her  brother's  evident  admiration  for 
the  young  man  who,  with  every  one  against  him,  held  his 
own,  serenely  affable,  and,  besides,  brought  a  softer  note 
into  his  voice  when  he  addressed  her,  which  no  one  else 
had  ever  done. 

."  My  dear  fellow,  you  simply  don't  know  what  you're 
talking  about.  Where  is  the  dishonesty  in  paying  legiti- 
jnate  expenses  ?  The  shoe  is  on  the  other  foot,  I  imagine. 


"  Let  me  buy  your  friendly  help  "         45 

Take,  for  instance,  the  necessary  board  bill.  I  believe  in 
paying  my  way  wherever  I  go,  or  whatever  I  am  doing. 
Of  course,  it  might  be  said  that  Mr.  Byfield,  possessing 
a  large  farm,  well  stocked  and  successfully  cultivated, 
could  quite  easily  support  us  while  we  were  canvassing 
on  his  side  of  politics,  but  I  say,  why  should  he  any  more 
than  the  others  ?  Now,  I  can't  board  round  while  I'm  on 
this  job,  because  I've  got  to  give  all  my  attention  to  the 
business  in  hand.  I  pay  two  dollars  a  week  while  I  stay 
here,  and  I've  been  at  two-dollar-a-day  hotels  where  I 
wasn't  so  comfortable.  I  ought,  by  rights,  if  you  talk  of 
strict  honesty,  to  pay  at  least  a  dollar  a  day  here,  but  per- 
haps Mrs.  Byfield  will  let  me  off  for  two  dollars  a  week." 

"  Indeed,"  said  the  hospitable  Mrs.  Byfield,  "  you're 
not  going  to  pay  a  cent  while  you  stay  here.  It's  not 
likely." 

"  We  haven't  come  to  keeping  boarders,"  cried  Lottie 
indignantly,  for  at  this  time  people  in  the  city  never 
thought  of  spending  their  vacations  on  a  farm.  Byfield 
himself  said  nothing,  but  his  eyes  twinkled  when  his 
guest  spoke  of  paying  for  his  board.  This  was  a  horse 
of  a  different  colour.  Every  little  helps  on  a  farm,  where 
cash  is  sometimes  scarce.  Sam  laughed  under  his  breatli 
very  gently  and  winked  across  the  table  at  his  sister,  who 
did  not  take  this  familiarity  in  good  part,  tossing  her  head 
slightly,  with  a  very  fetching  little  frown  on  her  brow. 
Sam  was  beginning  to  see  the  way  the  game  was  running 
and  became  more  and  more  confident  that  his  estimate 
of  the  stranger  had  not  been  a  false  one. 

"  That's  all  right,"  said  Maguire  airily.  "  You  see 
this  here  ditch  is  a  public  affair.  And  we  all  know  what 
public  improvements  mean.  There's  so  much  estimated 
at  first,  and  the  job's  about  half  done  when  that  amount 
is  spent.  Then  there's  no  use  in  letting  it  lie  unfinished. 
so  there's  another  appropriation  and  nobody  to  blame, 
and  that's  the  way  it  goes.  It  isn't  so  much  the  first  cost 
of  this  here  dreen  or  the  second  cost,  although  these  will 
pile  up  the  taxes  for  the  next  ten  years ;  it's  the  repairs 
year  by  year,  the  banks  caving  in  where  the  deep  cuttings 
are,  the  silting  up  other  places,  the  sweeping  away  of 


46  The  Victors 

the  bridges  with  the  first  spring  freshet  and  all  that  sort 
of  thing.  Why,  what's  a  quarter  each  or  half  a  dollar 
from  the  taxpayer  to  stop  the  beginning  of  this  dreen, 
a  dreen  fur  cash  as  well  as  for  water  ?  What's  fifty 
cents  apiece  when  the  taxes  in  the  first  year  would  be 
ten  times  as  much  ?  No,  sir ;  none  of  this  fund  goes  into 
my  pocket,  but  I  think  it's  only  fair  and  just  that  some  of 
it  should  go  into  Mr.  Byfield's  pocket  if  he  boards  the 
men  who  are  going  to  defeat  this  thing.  That's  how  I 
look  at  it.  You  can't  have  fried  eggs  without  breaking 
the  shells,  and  talking  of  fried  eggs  I  think  I'll  have  one 
more,  Mrs.  Byfield.  I  admit  I  like  good  cooking,  and 
that's  the  reason  I  want  to  stay  here,  where  I'm  well  off. 
Thanks,  Mrs.  Byfield." 

"  We  don't  want  any  fund  to  pay  our  board  bill,"  said 
Ben.  "  We  have  nothing  to  do  with  this  election,  and 
are  going  away  this  morning." 

"  Right  you  are,"  confirmed  Maguire,  cheerfully. 
"  There  speaks  the  free  and  independent  pedlar.  That's 
correct.  Pay  as  you  go  is  my  motto.  Of  course,  if  you 
don't  electioneer  it  isn't  to  be  expected  that  you  should 
ask  for  your  board  bill  to  be  paid  out  of  the  fund.  So  if 
you  boys  fork  out  seventy-five  cents  each  after  breakfast 
I  should  say  that  would  clear  you  cheaply  enough,  for 
you  have  had  more  than  the  worth  of  it." 

Ben  reddened,  remembering  that  he  had  no  money,  and 
well  aware  that  Maguire  knew  it ;  but  Jim  spoke  up  con- 
fidently : 

"  Cash  or  kind,  Maguire,  as  you  said  a  little  while  ago. 
If  we  haven't  the  ready  money  we  have  the  goods,  so 
don't  get  anxious  on  our  account,  or  afraid  that  we  will 
appeal  to  your  generosity." 

"  Then,"  continued  Maguire,  ignoring  the  last  remark, 
"  there  will  have  to  be  a  little  something  in  hand  to  help 
the  doubtful  voters  to  see  the  right  side  of  this  question. 
What  does  it  cost  in  this  section  to  make  a  man  vote  our 
way?" 

"  You  can  have  my  vote  for  fifty  cents,"  said  the 
hired  man,  anxious  to  retrieve  his  lost  position  as  a 
humourist. 


"  Let  me  buy  your  friendly  help  "          47 

"  That  would  be  half  a  dollar  more  than  it  was 
worth,  for  I've  known  men  take  good  money  and  give  bad 
votes.  I'm  a  commercial  man,  and  I  only  buy  where  I'm 
sure  of  the  delivery  of  th^  goods." 

The  hired  man  heaved  a  sigh  and  shoved  back  his 
chair. 

"  It's  nothing  here  but  talk,  talk,  talk,  and  I'm  a  worker. 
I  can't  fool  away  any  more  time,  even  if  I  am  working 
for  somebody  else.  Talk's  cheap." 

There  was  a  general  shoving  back  of  chairs  as  the  in- 
dustrious hired  man  refused  to  dawdle  longer,  and  pres- 
ently all  hands  left  for  the  fields,  with  the  exception  of  our 
three  pedlars.  Ben  and  Jim  waited  out  in  the  barnyard 
for  the  third  of  the  trio,  who  had  remained  at  the  house 
apparently  to  talk  with  the  women.  The  two  discussed, 
with  a  discouraged  air,  the  nature  of  the  goods  that  would 
be  most  acceptable  to  their  host  for  the  accommodation 
they  had  received. 

' "  I  suppose  the  mother  would  like  something  useful 
and  the  daughter  something  ornamental,"  said  Jim,  con- 
fessing at  the  same  time  that  he  knew  little  of  feminine 
preference. 

"  I  suppose  so.  We'd  better  take  our  stock  up  to  the 
house  and  let  them  choose  what  they  want." 

As  this  was  agreed. to,  they  heard  Patrick  approach, 
whistling  merrily. 

"  Well,  gentlemen,"  he  cried  on  seeing  them,  "  we  were 
to  have  a  little  confab,  you  said.  Now  that  breakfast's 
over,  I  am  ready  to  talk  on  any  subject  under  the  sun  till 
next  meal  time." 

"  We  haven't  anything  to  discuss,"  said  Ben,  slowly. 
"  All  we  want  is  our  licence,  and  then  we  propose  to  pay 
up  our  bill  and  get  on  our  way." 

"  Oh,  the  licence.  Thunder,  I  thought  we  settled  that 
last  night.  Do  youse  want  to  have  a  fight  every  morning 
over  it?  Why  can't  we  have  one  good  tussle  that  will 
last  a  week  ?  I  hate  to  think  of  waking  up  every  morning 
and  saying  to  myself  there's  that  durned  licence  to  be 
fought  for  after  breakfast.  I  wonder  which'll  lick?  I've 
simply  got  to  have  this  licence  till  after  election,  for  the 


48  The  Victors 

opposition  will  be  sure  to  pounce  on  me  for  it ;  'twould  be 
bad  politics  not  to,  and  some  one  is  bound  to  think  of  it. 
You  see,  I've  got  to  take  to  the  peddling  tack  for  a  while 
at  first,  and  they'd  be  dead  certain  to  nab  me  before  I  got 
through.  Say,  boys,  you  must  let  me  keep  this  paper  for 
another  week.  I'm  a  peaceable  man  and  don't  want  to 
be  always  fighting." 

"  We  are  not  going  to  fight  for  it.  The  licence  is  ours. 
If  you  refuse  to  give  it  up,  we  won't  say  another  word 
about  it,  but  will  go  to  the  nearest  justice  of  the  peace 
and  make  complaint.  Then  we  will  either  get  it  or  not, 
as  the  law  holds." 

"  How  will  you  explain  your  hoodwinking  of  the  law 
at  Ann  Arbor?  I  thought  we  thrashed  all  this  out  before. 
What's  the  use  of  going  over  the  old  ground  ?  " 

"  We  will  tell  the  truth  and  take  our  chances." 

Maguire  saw  that  they  meant  it.  He  thrust  his  hands 
deep  in  his  trousers  pockets,  and  with  bent  head  and 
a  frown  on  his  brow  walked  up  and  down  before  them 
for  a  few  moments,  seemingly  meditating  on  the  situa- 
tion. 

"  Look  here,  boys,"  he  said  at  last,  "you've  got  me  in  a 
hole,  and  I  know  it,  and  you  know  it,  so  there's  no  use 
of  me  pretending  that  I'm  up  on  the  surface  of  the  earth 
when  I'm  not.  Your  position  is  legal,  and  mine  isn't, 
so  there's  where  the  trouble  comes  in.  A  man  whose  fix 
isn't  according  to  law's  no  good,  unless  he's  got  money, 
and  I  ain't  got  enough.  Now  why  can't  you  fellows  be 
decent  and  jump  in  and  help  a  fellow?  I'll  divide  up 
square,  so  help  me.  Yes,  I  will — straight." 

"You  say  you  are  going  to  work  for  nothing,"  said 
Jim,  "  so  in  that  case  there  will  be  nothing  to  divide." 

"  Don't  you  make  any  mistake.  There'll  be  something 
to  divvy  before  this  ditch  question  is  settled.  You  can 
bet  your  boots  on  that." 

"  If  my  boots  are  safe  on  such  a  wager,  then  you've 
lied  to  these  people,  so  how  can  you  expect  us  to  trust 
you?" 

At  the  word  "  lied  "  Pat's  eyes  flashed  dangerously  and 


"  Let  me  buy  your  friendly  help  "          4^ 

his  right  fist  clenched,  but  he  seemed  to  pull  himself  in 
immediately  after,  and  he  replied  smoothly  enough: 

"  Oh,  I  never  go  back  on  a  pal.  Now,  look  here,  you 
fellows,  you're  cramping  me.  You're  not  giving  me  a  fair 
show ;  honour  bright,  you  ain't.  You  can  queer  my  game 
right  here,  and  I  don  t  see  how  I  can  help  myself,  if  you 
shut  down  on  me.  Now,  all  I  want  to  make  is  a  living. 
These  jays  here  will  get  the  worth  of  their  money,  don't 
you  fret.  Why  can't  you  be  easy  on  a  poor  devil  and  not 
shove  him  in  a  corner  merely  because  you've  got  the 
chance?  You  won't  feel  any  better  when  you've  done 
it.  It  won't  do  you  a  cent's  worth  of  good,  and  it  will  do 
me  a  lot  of  harm.  Now,  see  here,  fellows.  You  are  two 
friends,  and  you  don't  like  me,  I  can  see  that.  I  like 
youse  two,  but  that  don't  make  any  differ.  We'll  let  it 
go  at  that.  Youse  have  had  a  good  schooling,  and  I 
haven't.  I've  got  nothing  to  keep  me  but  my  ten  fingers 
arid  about  an  ounce  of  brains  to  tell  'em  what  to  do.  You 
fellows  ain't  getting  along  very  well  in  the  world,  but 
y>  u've  got  an  eddication,  and  you're  chums  with  each 
other.  I  tell  you,  boys,  to  a  lonely  devil  that  never  had  a 
fiiend  to  say  a  good  word  for  him  since  he  was  born 
that's  a  mighty  lot.  I've  been  watching  you  two,  and  I 
can  see  that  youse'd  stand  by  each  other  through  thick 
and  thin,  and  if  one  gits  a  licking  the  other'll  take  his 
share,  and  no  squealing,  and  if  one  makes  half  a  dollar 
tl*e  other  gets  a  quarter.  Now,  I'd  give  anything  to  have 
a  friend  like  that,  and  if  I  had  to  I'd  kill  the  man  that 
hurt  him,  an'  don't  you  forget  it." 

"  Look  here,  Mr.  Maguire — "  put  in  Ben. 
"  Pat's  the  name,  or  Patrick  for  short." 
"  Very  well,  then,  Pat,  I  ask  you  to  turn  back  your 
recollection  to  last  evening.    You  were  in  a  hole  then,  and 
a  worse  one  than  you  are  in  now,  for  the  law  was  right 
on  your  heels." 

:'  True  for  you.     Never  a  truer  word  spoken." 

"  Here  were  we  two,  who  stood  by  you  as  staunchly  as 

any  friend  could  desire,  although  neither  of  us  had  ever 

seen  you  before.     We  got  you  out  of  the  hole  at  some 

risk  to    ourselves,  for  you    have  threatened    us  once    or 


50  The  Victors 

twice  since  with  the  consequences  of  what  we  did.  Very 
well;  how  did  you  repay  us?  You  jumped  on  us  and 
knocked  us  down  on  the  road  and  held  us  there  because 
we  asked  back  what  was  our  own.  A  man  who  will  act 
like  that  doesn't  need  to  wonder  why  he  hasn't  any 
friends.  That  isn't  the  way  to  make  'em." 

"  By  the  holy  smoke,  Ben,  you're  just  dead  right.  I'm 
a  mean,  low-down,  insignificant  cuss.  There's  a  streak 
in  me  that  ought  to  be  kicked  clean  out  of  this  here 
county.  I  know  it,  and  I've  said  it  to  myself  a  dozen 
times.  When  a  fellow  comes  up  to  me  spitting  on  his 
hands  I  line  out  for  his  jaw  without  ever  thinking  any 
more  of  the  consequences  than  I  think  about  breathing. 
You  see,  you  fellows  sort  of  squared  up  to  me  last  night, 
an'  I  forgot  in  a  minute  what  you  had  done  for  me,  so 
help  me,  I  did.  Mean?  I'm  so  blamed  mean  that  .  .  . 
But  say !  When  you  meet  a  fellow  like  me,  what  does  the 
college  say  you  ought  to  do  with  him  ?  Give  him  another 
punch  in  the  head,  kick  him  down  a  bit  further  in  the 
ditch  and  make  him  meaner  than  ever  when  he  gets  out, 
or  say  to  him,  as  you  said  just  now,  encouraging  like, 
'  Pat,  you're  a  dirty  God-forsaken  whelp ;  why  don't  you 
brace  up  and  quit  being  a  thief  or  a  sneak?'  Then  if 
there's  any  good  in  a  fellow,  talking  soft  and  soothing 
like  that  to  him  will  bring  it  out,  and  if  there's  not,  if 
he's  sneak  and  puppy  clean  through,  why  you've  done 
what  you  could,  haven't  you  ?  And  you  feel  better  after 
it." 

While  this  appeal  was  being  made,  Jim  turned  his  eyes 
from  Maguire  and  gazed  at  his  friend,  a  slight  smile  part- 
ing his  lips.  He  knew  the  serious  undercurrent  of  Ben's 
nature :  his  sensitive  regard  for  his  duty  toward  his  neigh- 
bour. Whether  it  was  blind  luck,  deep  guile,  or  intuition 
that  led  the  glib  talker  off  on  this  line  Monro  was  unable 
to  guess,  but  he  was  well  aware  that  nothing  could 
be  more  effective  so  far  as  Ben  was  concerned,  and  he 
watched  the  result  of  the  other's  breathless  words  with 
amused  interest. 

"  What  do  you  want  us  to  do  ?  "  said  Ben  in  a  low 
voice. 


"Let  me  buy  your  friendly  help"          51 

"  I  want  you  to  help  me.  I  want  you  to  stand  by  me  for 
a  little  while.  You're  thinking  of  peddling.  Good 
enough.  What  better  district  to  peddle  in  than  right 
round  here?  It's  just  as  good  or  just  as  bad  as  any 
other  place.  You  can  perhaps  put  in  a  word  on  the 
'lectioneering,  but  you  don't  need  to  unless  you  like.  I 
can  tend  to  all  that.  I  want  you  to  let  me  have  your  horse 
and  rig  and  the  licence;  I'll  take  good  care  of  all  three. 
I've  got  to  scour  round  this  county,  and  nobody  here  has 
got  a  horse  to  spare,  and  if  he  had  he  wouldn't  lend 
it  to  me.  These  farmers  think  more  of  their  horses  than 
they  do  of  their  wives." 

"  You  propose,  then,  that  we  lend  you  the  horse  and 
waggon  and  go  on  tramp  ourselves  ?  "  said  Jim.  "  Well, 
I  call  that  cold  cheek." 

"Hold  on,  Jim,"  cried  Ben,  "wait  a  minute  and  perhaps 
we  can  make  some  arrangement.  You've  got  a  shoulder 
pack,  Maguire  ?  " 

"  Yes ;  but  there's  no  need  for  you  to  walk.  You  come 
along  with  me  in  the  rig.  I  ain't  going  to  do  any  peddling. 
You  see  it  will  be  like  this.  We  come  to  a  house,  and 
you  fellows  can  go  in  and  sell  things  to  the  women.  I'll 
have  to  tramp  out  to  the  back  fields  or  wherever  the 
farmer  is  and  have  a  chat  with  him.  That  will  give  you 
lots  of  time  to  palaver  the  women.  I  guess  that  where 
you  boys  fail  in  peddling  is  in  not  flattering  your  custom- 
ers. That's  the  secret  of  success  in  this  world.  Butter 
'em,  butter  'em.  If  you  tend  to  that,  the  goods  will  sell 
themselves.  I  may  be  able  to  give  you  a  hint  or  two  as 
we  go  along,  and  if  you  intend  sticking  to  the  business 
you'll  find  my  pointers  worth  listening  to.  Now,  boys, 
you  haven't  been  raising  my  courage  just  to  throw  me 
down  again,  have  you?  You  ain't  going  back  on  me, 
are  you  ?  " 

"What  do  you  say,  Jim?"  Ben  turned  to  his  friend. 
"  I  don't  want  to  be  hard  on  anybody,  and  if  you're  will- 
ing to  stay  I  am." 

"  You  couldn't  be  hard  on  anybody  if  you  tried,  Ben. 
I'll  do  whatever  you  do,  of  course ;  but,  see  here,  Maguire, 
you've  been  talking  loud  about  money  ever  since  we  met 


52  The  Victors 

you.  You  seem  to  know  how  to  make  it  and  to  despise  us 
who  don't.  Why  not  buy  our  horse  and  rig,  and  we'll 
throw  in  the  licence?  We'll  sell  you  the  whole  outfit  for 
twenty  dollars." 

"  So  help  me,  boys,  I  was  only  blowing.  I  always  blrvtf 
about  money.  If  people  think  you  really  need  anything 
they  won't  give  you  a  hand;  if  they  think  you're  flu^n, 
then  it's  all  right." 

"  What  Ben  has  just  said  disproves  that." 

"  Present  company  excepted,  boys,  always.  I  got  t"-o 
dollars  out  of  that  fresh  inspector  at  Ann  Arbor,  and  be- 
fore that  I  had  something  less  than  five  dollars.  That's 
my  pile,  less  than  seven  dollars,  all  told.  Search  me  if 
you  don't  believe  me.  Then,  there's  the  stuff  in  my  kit, 
but  that  don't  amount  to  much.  I  ain't  no  Vanderbilt  in 
disguise,  you  know,  though  I  may  look  like  the  family. 
But  I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do.  If  you  boys  stand  by  me 
till  this  cruel  war  is  over,  I'll  guarantee  to  give  you 
twenty-five  dollars  for  the  mule  and  army  waggon,  and 
you  can  do  what  you  darn  please  with  the  ammunition. 
Is  it  a  bargain  ?  " 

"  Oh,  we  won't  hold  you  to  that,  unless  you  want  to  keep 
to  it  yourself.  I  don't  see  where  there's  any  twenty- 
five  dollars  to  be  made  in  this  contest,  but  we  won't  desert 
until  the  votes  are  counted.  After  that,  you  understand, 
you  are  to  let  us  have  back  what  belongs  to  us,  or  else 
buy  out  the  business." 

"  All  right,  Ben,  signed,  sealed  and  delivered,  witness 
our  hand,  so  help  me.  And  you're  white  men,  you  two, 
clear  through  and  away  out  beyond.  I'll  deal  square  with 
you,  but  you  mustn't  kick  if  I  do  some  tall  talk 
to  other  folks.  Of  course  I'm  not  in  this  thing  for 
my  health,  and  if  old  Byfield  or  anyone  else  in  this  district 
thinks  I  am,  that  simply  shows  he  wants  to  get  something 
for  nothing,  which  is  against  the  rules  of  the  peddling 
business.  Nobody  would  ever  be  taken  in  in  this  world 
if  it  wasn't  for  their  trying  to  bunco  somebody  else.  The 
farming  community  always  loses  money  thinking  it  is 
getting  a  lump  of  gold,  and  then  they  feel  disappointed 
when  they  find  it's  only  a  brick.  But  we've  had  talk 


"  Let  me  buy  your  friendly  help  "          53 

enough,  now  let's  get  to  work.  We'll  hitch  up  the  team 
and  spread  ourselves  over  the  cultivated  lands.  But  I 
tell  you,  boys,  I'll  never  forget  that  you  are  white  men 
clear  through  and  down  to  the  ground,  may  1  drop  in  my 
tracks  if  I  do." 


CHAPTER  IV 

"l   HAVE  FLATTERED  A  LADY  " 

IT  was  three  o'clock  and  the  summer  afternoon  shim- 
mered with  a  heat  that  seemed  visible  as  it  throbbed  above 
the  parched  earth,  therefore  the  blinds  over  the  parlour 
windows  were  drawn  to  keep  the  room  dark  and 
cool.  Lottie  was  neatly  uressed  any  time  of  the  day 
you  happened  to  meet  her,  but  in  the  afternoon,  when 
a  lull  came  in  the  day's  work,  she  blossomed  out 
almost  equal  to  one  of  the  coloured  plates  in  Peter- 
son's Magazine,  which  arrived  from  the  cultured  city 
of  Philadelphia  once  a  month  and  thus  kept  the  farm 
informed  of  what  the  outside  world  was  wearing.  A 
complete  living  up  to  the  gorgeousness  of  those  fashion- 
plates  was  next  to  impossible,  when  the  limited  resources 
of  the  neighbourhood  and  the  scanty  amount  of  money  at 
the  girl's  disposal  were  taken  into  consideration,  but  never- 
theless the  magazine  had  its  influence,  and  the  effect  was 
perhaps  more  charming  and  certainly  more  subdued  than 
if  the  instructions  from  these  fascinating  pages  had  been 
fully  carried  out.  Of  course  Sunday  was  the  real  test 
of  all  this  array,  and  then,  perhaps.  Peterson's  was  out- 
distanced, but  every  afternoon  produced  the  picture  of  an 
amazingly  pretty  girl  most  admirably  garmented — a  spot- 
less collar  at  the  plump  throat,  surrounded  by  a  daintv 
ribbon.  She  wore  a  light  white  muslin  dress,  through 
the  semi-transparent  beeves  of  which  could  be  just 
discerned  a  suggestion  of  rounded  arm,  all  in  all  a  cool, 
pretty  and  luringly  lovable  girl,  kindly  and  sweet,  living 
the  healthy  if  arduous  life  of  the  farm,  pure  as  a  calla 
lily,  with  possibilities  of  character  latent,  needing  only 
tbe  vivifying  touch  of  opportunity  to  begin  their  develop- 
ment, as  the  severing  of  a  silken  thread  permits  the  wait- 

54 


"  I  have  flattered  a  lady.  55 

ing  ship  on  the  ways  of  the  building  yard  to  glide  into  the 
expectant  ocean.  Lottie  was  an  American  girl,  brought 
up  in  the  same,  refreshing  moral  atmosphere  of  the 
country,  similar  to  thousands  of  others  scattered  up  and 
down  the  length  of  the  land,  yet,  notwithstanding  this 
multitude,  the  young  man  of  destiny,  her  man  of  destiny, 
when  he  arrives  cannot  be  persuaded  that  there  is  such 
another  in  the  whole  world. 

Coming  from  her  room  into  the  parlour  Lottie  heard 
the  gate  click,  and,  running  to  the  front  window,  peered 
cautiously  past  the  edge  of  the  blinil  to  learn  who  the 
visitor  was.  She  saw  Maguire  come  swinging  up  the 
walk,  his  chin  in  the  air,  his  hat  set  back  on  his  head, 
his  whole  appearance  that  of  a  man  well  satisfied  with 
himself  and  contented  with  existence.  She  learned  by 
the  dust  on  his  boots  that  he  had  come  some  distance  on 
foot,  and  wondered  what  had  happened  to  his  two  com- 
rades with  their  horse  and  waggon.  She  drew  back,  fear- 
ing he  might  see  her,  and  a  moment  later  heard  him  enter 
the  dining-room,  pausing  for  an  instant  on  the  threshold 
when  he  found  it  tenantless.  "  He  wants  something  to 
eat,"  said  the  girl  to  herself,  and,  hospitably  intent,  opened 
the  door  between  parlour  and  dining-room. 

"Ah,  Miss  Byfield,"  cried  Maguire,  doffing  his  hat, 
which  he  had  not  taken  off  on  entering  the  house.  "  I 
thought  at  first  there  was  nobody  at  home." 

"  There  isn't  except  mother  and  myself,  and  she  is  rest- 
ing. I  suppose  you  haven't  had  your  dinner  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,  thank  you,  two  of  them ;  happened  to  strike 
the  early  lunch  house  and  the  late  lunch  house  one  after 
the  other,  and  in  the  right  order,  too.  I've  done  first-rate 
to-day  in  the  matter  of  meals,  and  I  hope  my  luck  will 
keep  up.  But  I  know  it  won't.  Some  day  lil  come  on 
the  late  dinner  house  first,  and,  leaving  before  the  horn 
is  blown,  reach  the  early  meal  house  just  when  the  dishes 
are  cleared  away.  Dinner  hours  in  the  farming  districts 
should  be  regulated  by  law.  and  then  pedlars,  tramps  and 
canvassers  wouldn't  get  left.  Say.  Miss  Byfield,  I  col- 
lared that  voter's  list  all  right,  took  a  copy  of  it,  and 
now  all  I  want  is  to  get  the  names  ticked  off." 


56  The  Victors 

"  Then  you  wish  to  see  my  father,  don't  you  ?  He 
won't  be  back  from  the  fields  for  some  hours  yet,  but  if 
you  went  out  there — " 

"  No,  he  wouldn't  like  that,  and  then  he's  busy,  and  it's 
a  pity  to  disturb  him.  I  hate  bothering  a  busy  man.  You 
know  all  these  people  on  the  list,  don't  you?  " 

"  I  know  most  of  them ;  that  is,  I  meet  them  at  church 
on  Sundays ;  some  I  know  very  well,  others  not  so  welt, 
and  the  rest  by  name  only." 

"  Well,  now,  Miss  Byfield,  if  you  wouldn't  mind,  may- 
be you  could  tell  me  the  fellows  likely  to  vote  on  our  side, 
and  the  fellows  against  us.  Then,  you  see,  I  wouldn't  need 
to  bother  your  father  at  all/' 

"  I  don't  think  1  could  do  that,  but  I  might  be  able  to 
pick  out  the  names  of  those  who  were  at  the  meeting  last 
night,  and  they  are  all  going  to  vote  with  my  father." 

"  Why,  that's  just  the  ticket;  just  what  I  want.  You 
see,  we  will  sort  of  hew  this  list  out  in  the  rough  to- 
gether, if  you  will  be  kind  enough  to  help  me,  and  then 
your  father  and  I  can  put  the  finishing  touches  on  it.  It 
will  save  him  a  lot  of  trouble  if  you  go  over  it  first  and 
give  me  some  kind  of  idea  where  I  stand." 

"  Well,  I'll  do  what  I  can.  Won't  you  come  into  the 
parlour  ?  " 

"  Thanks.    Don't  mind  if  I  do." 

He  threw  his  hat  into  a  corner  and  followed  the  girl 
into  the  darkened  room,  she  going  to  a  window,  pulling 
up  the  blind  and  letting  in  the  light.  She  invited  him  to 
a  seat  at  the  circular  table  that  stood  in  the  centre  of  the 
room,  covered  with  a  dark  brown  cloth  embroidered  at 
the  edges.  In  the  centre  of  the  table  lay  a  huge  family 
Bible,  and  on  the  top  of  that  an  almost  equally  huge 
photograph  album,  which  gave  evidence  of  having  been 
in  use  rather  more  frequently  than  the  volume  that  sup- 
ported it.  There  were  various  other  books  scattered  about 
the  table,  such  as  "  Yowett  on  the  Sheep,"  and  one  author 
in  a  still  more  uncomfortable  attitude,  "  Quinby  on  the 
Bee."  Lottie  sat  down  opposite  her  visitor. 

"  If  you  will  read  the  list,"  she  said,  "  I  will  tell  you 
those  who  were  at  the  meeting." 


"I  have  flattered  a  lady"  57 

Maguire,  not  too  eagerly,  pulled  his  copy  from  an  in- 
side pocket  and  smoothed  it  out  on  the  table. 

"  I  don't  write  a  very  good  fist,"  he  remarked,  as  he 
wrinkled  his  brow  trying1  to  make  out  the  first  name  he 
had  set  down,  "  that's  how  I  come  to  miss  me  deplomy 
at  college,  the  professors  saying  that  all  the  answers  was 
splendid,  but  they  couldn't  read  them  for  me  handwrite." 
The  young  man  looked  across  at  her  with  a  humourous 
twinkle  in  his  eye  which  was  answered  by  a  sparkle  in  her 
own. 

"  I  will  write  out  the  list  for  you  if  you  like.  You 
read  the  names  to  me." 

"  Oh,  I  don't  want  to  bother  you  so  much  as  that,"  he 
protested ;  but  she  sprang  up,  cleared  a  place  on  the 
table  and  quickly  brought  pens,  ink  and  paper,  saying, 
as  she  sat  down  again  ; 

"  There  now.    Go  ahead." 

Instead  of  going  ahead  as  invited,  or  rather  going 
ahead  in  another  direction,  Patrick,  leaning  his  elbows  on 
the  table  and  his  chin  in  his  hands,  gazed  at  the  girl 
murmuring : 

"  I  wish  my  name  was  on  this  list." 

"  I'll  put  it  on,  if  you  like.     Why?  " 

"  Oh,  I  dunno.  This  strikes  me  as  the  nicest  neighbour- 
hood I  ever  was  in.  I  like  the  people  so  well.  If  I  was  on 
the  voters'  list  I'd  be  living  here,  that's  all." 

"  Then  you  think  you  won't  have  any  trouble  getting 
them  to  vote  as  you  want  them?  " 

"  Oh,  that  will  be  no  trouble  at  all,  at  all.  You  do  be 
having  a  lot  of  fun  here  in  the  winter  time,  I'm  thinking, 
when  work's  a  bit  slack." 

"  Yes,  it's  pretty  lively  sometimes,  when  the  sleighing's 
good.  Then  we  go  for  sleigh  rides ;  sometimes  we  have 
singing  school  or  husking  bees,  or  paring  bees  .  .  ." 

"  Ah,  that  last  is  what  would  suit  me.  They  do  be 
pairing  off  at  them  bees." 

"  Paring  off  apple  peelings,  yes." 

"Oh,  it's  apples  they  pare,  is  it?  Sure  I  thought  it 
was  the  boys  and  girls.  Ah,  well,  trouble  first  come  into 
this  world  on  account  of  an  apple,  and  it's  but  right — " 


58  The  Victors 

"  That  apples  should  keep  on  making  trouble  ?  " 

"  No,  no.  The  very  opposite  is  what  I  was  going  to 
say.  It  is  but  right  that  the  apples  should  repair  the  dam- 
age. How  is  that  for  a  joke?  I  did  that  all  by  myself." 

"  Beautiful.  That's  nearly  as  good  as  our  hired  man 
could  do.  But  why  don't  you  read  out  the  names  on  the 
list,  now  that  I'm  all  ready  to  copy  them  ?  " 

"  To  tell  the  truth  I've  come  to  a  complete  stand  at  the 
very  first  name.  And  I  don't  know  how  to  settle  the 
question  at  all,  at  all." 

"  Can't  you  read  it?    Let  me  see." 

"  Oh,  I  can  read  it  all  right  enough,  but  I  was  just 
wondering  what  the  first  name  of  his  daughter  was.  It 
was  one  of  the  places  I  visited  to-day,  and  the  daughter 
was  the  prettiest  girl  I've  seen  in  ten  years'  time  and  in 
the  sixty-five  years  of  my  long  life  before  that." 

"  Was  that  over  at  Spence's?  Her  name  is  Sarah,  and 
they  do  say  she's  the  best-looking  girl  in  this  part  of 
Michigan." 

"  Then  they're  no  judges  of  beauty.  The  name  I  head 
the  list  with  is  Mr.  John  Byfield." 

"  Very  well.     I've  got  that  down.     What's  the  next  ?  " 

"  The  next  is  the  name  of  his  daughter.  That's  what 
I  wanted  to  know,  so  I  might  feel  acquainted  like." 

"  Oh ! " 

"  My  own  name's  Patrick,"  the  young  man  went  on 
hurriedly,  fearing  he  had  offended  the  girl  by  being  some- 
what precipitate  on  a  very  short  acquaintance,  "  and  the 
only  objection  I  have  to  it  is  that  it  sounds  Irish,  which 
leads  people  to  make  mistakes,  for  there  is  nothing  Irish 
about  me  at  all,  at  all,  except  the  trifling  fact  that  I  was 
born  on  the  island,  which  should  not  be  used  as  evidence 
against  me,  because  I  was  so  young  at  the  time.  I  plead 
the  minor  act." 

The  young  man's  apprehension  grew  keen,  as  the  girl 
made  no  reply.  Her  head  was  bent  over  the  paper  on 
which  she  scribbled  in  silence  with  apparent  aimlessness. 
Was  she  offended?  Had  his  question  been  impertinent? 
How  do  people  in  high  society  acquire  knowledge  of  each 
other's  names  except  by  being  told  or  asking  honestly  and 


"  I  have  flattered  a  lady  "  59 

plainly  for  the  information?  He  felt  horribly  at  a  dis- 
advantage. If  he  had  only  asked  the  college  boys  that 
morning  they  might  have  given  him  a  h:nt  regarding  the 
correct  method  of  procedure,  but  he  had  anticipated  no 
such  predicament  as  this.  It  was  the  white  dress 
that  had  done  it,  with  the  pink  ribbon  at  the  throat  and 
the  gleam  of  fair  plump  arms  through  the  thin  muslin. 
He  had  a  susceptible  heart,  and  the  crisis  had  been  un- 
expected. What  should  he  do  now?  Wait  for  her  to 
speak?  What  if  she  did  not  speak,  but  rose  suddenly 
and  left  him  sitting  there,  with  no  chance  of  making 
amends?  Should  he  apologise?  That  seemed  about  the 
only  thing  to  do,  but  for  once  the  words  failed  him.  The 
deadlock  had  come  so  suddenly.  A  moment  ago  they 
were  talking  amicably  together,  and  now  there  was  silence 
and  a  bent  head. 

The  demure  Miss  Lottie  dared  not  raise  her  head  until 
her  tumultuous  thoughts  adjusted  themselves  and  she 
had  determined  what  was  the  proper  thing  to  do  in  the 
circumstances.  Was  this,  then,  the  advent  of  a  beau? 
The  coming  of  the  beau  was  a  standard  subject  for  dis- 
cussion and  comment  among  the  girls  of  her  acquaintance, 
mingled  with  accusation,  indignant  denial  at  first,  usually 
followed  by  proof  indisputable,  such  as  the  walking  home 
from  church  together  in  the  sight  of  all  the  world  and 
then  reluctant  admission  when  the  facts  were  too  plainly 
demonstrable  to  be  further  successfully  disputed.  Some 
girls,  indeed,  flaunted  the  acquired  beau  defiantly  from  the 
very  first,  but  as  a  general  rule  it  was  good  form  to  dis- 
claim strenuously  and  then  admit  blushingly,  with  a  con- 
siderable interval  between  the  two  conditions.  The  new 
possession  of  a  beau  involved  teasing  by  a  girl's  com- 
panions, and  voluble  comments,  which  were  gratifying  or 
painful  according  to  the  callousness  or  sensitiveness  of 
the  victim. 

But  besides  this  material  world  around  her  Lottie  was 
also  the  inhabitant  of  another  sphere.  Peterson's  Maga- 
zine dealt  in  fiction  as  well  as  fashion,  and  the  girl 
remembered  with  a  sudden  palpitation  at  her  throat  that 
on  the  question  of  the  name,  many  of  the  matrimonial 


60  The  Victors 

cases  in  that  delightful,  alluring,  imaginative  world 
turned.  "  May  I  call  you  Gladys  ?  "  the  young  earl  would 
say  as  they  rode  together  through  the  woods  or  along 
the  winding  avenues  of  the  ancestral  park,  and  the  noble- 
man usually  reached  forward  and  touched  the  white 
hand  of  Lady  Gladys  as  it  rested  like  a  snowflake  on 
the  horse's  mane.  Sometimes  the  fateful  question  was 
asked  as  the  pair  strolled  along  the  margin  of  a  romantic 
stream ;  sometimes  on  a  balcony  overlooking  a  silent  city 
street,  while  the  music  of  an  orchestra  mingled  with  the 
sound  of  dancing  feet  in  the  ballroom  from  which  they 
had  just  stolen  away;  sometimes  on  a  shipwrecked  vessel, 
or  in  a  dangerous  position  in  the  high  mountains ;  but 
whenever  or  wherever  it  happened  it  always  denoted  a 
crisis  in  the  lives  of  two  young  people,  and  much  de- 
pended on  the  lady's  reply.  Fiction,  in  this  respect, 
differed  from  the  actualities  of  life,  for  in  the  country, 
everybody  called  everybody  else  by  his  or  her  Christian 
name,  and  no  importance  was  attached  to  the  doing  so. 
In  truth,  when  Maguire  himself  had  addressed  the  girl 
as  "  Miss  Byfield,"  the  unusual  ceremony  of  the  appella- 
tion had  brought  the  colour  to  her  cheeks,  and  she  feared 
her  brother  might  notice  the  incident,  to  make  it  the  after 
foundation  of  rallying  remark.  Finally  she  looked  up  at 
the  young  man  opposite  her  and  said  with  the  glimmer 
of  a  smile  on  her  warm  lips  : 

"  The  first  name  on  the  list  is  John  Byfield.  What  is 
the  next?  I  have  written  down  the  one  you  gave  me/' 

"  Ah,  ye've  written  down  more  than  that,  for  I've  been 
watching  ye,"  cried  Patrick,  jubilantly,  overjoyed  to  see 
that  she  had  not  taken  offence  as  he  had  for  a  moment 
feared.  "  Ye've  written  the  name  Charlotte  three  or  four 
times,  and  a  mighty  pretty  name  it  is,  and  ye've  written 
down  Lottie  a  dozen  times,  and  I  like  that  even  better 
than  the  other." 

"  You  shouldn't  watch  people  when  they're  writing," 
reproved  the  demure  Lottie ;  l<  it  isn't  manners." 

''  When  one  writes  as  nice  as  you — I  wish  I  could 
do  it  half  so  well — it's  a  sin  not  to  watch  and  take  lessons. 
I'm  always  trying  to  improve  my  mind,  de  ye  see?" 


6i 

"  You  should  go  to  a  writing  school  some  winter  and 
improve  your  hand.  Improving  the  mind  doesn't  improve 
the  writing." 

"  If  you  were  the  teacher  at  the  writing  school  I'd  go 
summer  and  winter." 

"  Oh,  would  you  ?  I'm  afraid,  then,  your  penmanship 
will  never  be  mended,  for  I  shall  never  be  a  school- 
teacher." 

"  Ye  might  take  private  pupils,  and,  sure,  you  would 
find  me  a  docile  one." 

"Are  you  fond  of  reading?"  asked  Lottie,  hurriedly 
and  somewhat  inconsequently,  the  stories  in  Peterson's 
still  running  in  her  mind,  although  none  recurred  that 
offered  any  guidance  in  the  present  situation. 

"  Not  of  reading  books.  They're  trash,  and  there's 
no  use  wasting  time  over  them.  But  I  like  to  read  men 
and  women.  There's  something  worth  your  money,  and 
yet  it  costs  nothing.  I'm  afraid  that's  as  Irish  as  me 
name,  for  if  it  cost  nothing  how  can  it  be  worth  any 
money  ?  But  what  I  mean  is,  that  there's  some  interest  in 
the  project,  for  a  man  says  one  thing  when  he's  thinking 
another,  and  although  he  doesn't  want  you  to  know  what 
he's  thinking  yet  he  always  gives  you  a  clew  in  spite  of 
himself,  just  as  I  could  read  what  you  were  writing  on 
that  sheet  of  paper,  although  the  writing  was  upside  down 
to  me.  Then,  ye  see,  if  you  put  together  what  a  man 
says  and  what  he  thinks — " 

"  What  you  think  he  thinks,"  interrupted  and  corrected 
Lottie. 

"  True  for  ye.  And  that's  just  the  point  that  makes 
the  whole  thing  a  puzzle  and  gives  interest  to  the  game, 
what  you  think  he  thinks,  and  then  form  your  own  con- 
clusions about  what's  really  in  his  mind,  you  can  play 
with  him  and  turn  him  the  way  you  want  him  to  go,  while 
he  believes  all  the  time  he  is  going  the  way  he  intended 
from  the  very  first.  It  has  a'l  the  merit  and  the  amuse- 
ment of  driving  a  contrary  pig  to  market." 

"  But  what  good  does  it  do?  " 

"  The  pig?     Ye  sell  him  when  you  get  there." 


62  The  Victors 

"  No,  the  men.     You  can't  sell  a  man  as  you  would  a 

pig." 

"  I'm  not  so  sure  of  that.  The  world's  wide,  and  I 
haven't  had  time  to  see  very  much  of  it  yet,  but  I'll  see 
more  before  I'm  through  with  it,  and  it'll  see  more  of  me. 
I  don't  just  know  what's  to  be  done,  but  this  is  a  rich 
country  and  it's  going  to  be  richer,  and  it  owes  a  good 
living  to  Patrick  Maguire.  He's  going  to  collect  that  liv- 
ing if  he  can,  and  that's  what  he's  practising  now.  I'm 
at  the  writing  school,  but  what  I'm  going  to  do  with  the 
trick  when  I've  learnt  it  I'm  not  just  sure.  If  you  know 
how  to  get  men  to  do  what  ye  want  there's  money  in  it, 
and  I'll  bet  my  hat  on  that." 

"  You  are  learning  how  to  control  men.  Are  you  go- 
ing to  do  the  same  with  women  ?  " 

"  I  want  to  understand  all  men  and  one  woman.  That's 
my  ambition,  and  I'm  thinking  perhaps  the  one  woman 
will  be  more  hard  to  learn  than  all  the  men.  Ye  see  I 
haven't  practised  with  the  sex  yet." 

"  I  suppose  you  are  very  confident  you  will  succeed." 

"  Indeed  and  I  am  not.  It's  a  project  I  know  noth- 
ing about  at  all,  at  all,  but  I  have  hopes  that  some  kind 
young  lady  will  learn,  me.  Ye  see,  on  account  of  my 
own  bashful  and  retiring  nature,  I  may  not  be  able  to 
do  myself  justice  when  it  comes  to  the  point." 

"  I  don't  think  you  need  trouble  yourself  about  that. 
People  will  never  notice  your  lack  of  conceit  if  you  don't 
tell  them." 

Lottie  smiled,  and  the  young  man  laughed  aloud.  The 
girl  was  rather  pleased  with  herself,  finding  she  was  able 
to  keep  up  her  part  of  a  conversation  almost  as  if  the  dia- 
logue had  been  a  selection  from  a  book.  It  was  true  that 
the  heroes  of  romances  were  usually  persons  of  the  most 
refined  education,  whose  opinions  on  literature,  where 
expressed,  were  invariably  of  a  nature  extremely  flatter- 
ing to  that  art ;  still  Mr.  Maguire  was  merely  a  first  at- 
tempt, and  he  was  certainly  very  amusing.  Perhaps  she 
would  yet  meet  one  of  those  who  talked  in  rounded 
periods,  and  this  present  encounter  would  at  least  be 
good  practice  for  what  was  to  come.  Thinking  of  the 


"I  have  flattered  a  lady"  63 

discourse  as  a  preliminary  training  brought  the  next 
question  to  her  lips. 

"  You  are  taking  part  in  this  election  then,  not  because 
you  have  any  interest  in  it,  but  merely  as  practice  in  get- 
ting to  know  how  to  deal  with  people  ?  " 

"  Oh,  I  have  the  deepest  interest  in  it  while  it's  going 
on,  for  I  do  want  to  see  whether  I'm  any  good  or  whether 
me  name's  Dennis." 

"  How  are  you  going  to  get  them  to  do  what  you  want 
them  to?  I'd  like  to  know." 

"What  do' you  want  to  know  for?  Sure  you  don't 
need  to  learn  a  thing  like  that,  because  everybody  would 
want  to  do  what  you  asked  them  anyhow,  and  be  pleased 
to  get  the  chance.  Try  me,  for  instance,  if  you  don't  be- 
lieve it." 

"  Yes,  but  that's  not  telling." 

"  Well,  ye  see,  it's  like  the  old  poem,  '  Many  men  of 
many  minds,  many  fish  of  many  kinds.  Many — '  I  forget 
the  rest.  You  treat  each  one  according  to  his  nature,  and 
that's  what  I  say  a  man  must  be  able  to  find  out,  if  his 
name's  not  to  be  Mud.  I'm  fully  certain  of  this,  that 
you  must  smooth  people  down  if  ye  want  to  get  along 
with  them.  Flattery  is  not  distasteful  to  any  man,  if  you 
mix  it  according  to  his  liking  and  apply  it  with  some  ju- 
dition." 

"  I  thought  it  was  only  women  who  were  silly  enough 
to  want  flattery." 

"  Now,  there  you're  wrong  entirely.  Flattery  is  the 
very  last  thing  I  would  dare  try  with  a  woman.  She 
would  see  through  it  in  a  minute  and  so  would  have  a 
poor  opinion  of  me,  and  once  ye  lose  a  woman's  good 
opinion  you're  nowhere  at  all  with  her.  No,  I  always 
tell  a  woman  the  exact  truth,  for  she  don't  like  to  think 
you're  deluding  her.  And  even  the  truth  itself  one  must 
deal  sparingly  with,  for  fear  she  might  not  be  pleased 
with  too  bold  a  handling  of  it;  for  take  ourselves  here, 
friendly  like,  I  would  not  presume  to  say  half  what  I 
thought.  I  might  say  that  never  in  all  my  life  had  I  met 
a  young  lady  it  was  such  a  pleasure  to  talk  with,  but  I 


64  The  Victors 

would  carefully  conceal  that  she  was  the  most  beautiful 
girl  I  had  ever  seen  as  well." 

"  O  dear,"  cried  Lottie  blushing  and  jumping  to  her 
feet,  "  after  that  I  must  get  about  my  work.  It's  later 
than  I  thought." 

"  Now  sit  down  again,  Miss  Lottie,"  he  pleaded  per- 
suasively. "  You  see  you  just  prove  what  I  was  saying. 
Imagine  what  the  result  would  be  if  I  ventured  away 
from  the  truth  and  tried  flattery,  if,  indeed,  it  would  be 
possible  to  flatter  you,  which  it  is  not,  for  anything  any 
man  could  say  would  be  short  of  the  truth.  Won't  you, 
then,  forgive  the  half  I  said  as  well  as  the  half  I  hid?  You 
know  you  promised  to  help  me  with  this  list." 

The  girl  stood  irresolute  for  a  moment,  then  sat  once 
more. 

'"  Time  is  getting  on,"  she  said  warningly. 

"  Yes,  bad  luck  to  it.  •  It  always  gallops  when  you 
want  it  to  walk,  and  walks  when  you  want  it  to  gallop, 
like  an  ill-trained  horse." 

"  Oh,  by  the  way,  where  is  your  own  horse  all  this 
time?" 

"  I  lent  it  to  the  boys  to  do  some  peddling  with.  You 
see  I  didn't  want  it  while  I  was  copying  the  list,  and  told 
them  to  take  it  and  go  on  with  them,  and  I'd  walk." 

"  I'm  sure  that  was  very  kind  of  you.  I  hope  they'll 
make  some  money,  although  this  isn't  a  very  good  district 
for  pedlars." 

"  Money  is  the  last  thing  they'll  make  now  or  any  other 
time.  They're  college-bred  chaps,  and  they'll  never 
amount  to  anything." 

"  Don't  you  believe  in  colleges  then?  " 

"  I  do  not.  You  lose  all  the  years  you  spend  there, 
and  what  money  it  costs  you,  and  then  come  out  not 
able  to  meet  the  world  at  all,  at  all.  What  they  learn 
there  is  nonsense  and  no  use  at  all  outside,  and  I'm  sure 
I  don't  know  what  good  it  is  inside  the  colleges  either." 

"  What  do  they  teach,  besides  reading  and  writing  and 
all  that?" 

"  I'll  never  tell  you,  for  I  don't  know." 

"Then  how  do  you  know  whether  it's  useless  or  not?  " 


"  I  have  flattered  a  lady  "  65 

"  Now  you  have  me  there  sure  enough.  My  eyes  were 
that  dazzled  looking  at  you  that  I  tumbled  into  the  trap 
without  seeing  it.  Oh,  yes,  yes,  the  list.  True  enough, 
we  mustn't  forget  the  list,  and  I'm  coming  to  it  in  one 
moment." 

The  girl  had  risen  again,  and  a  voice  came  from  an 
inner  room. 

"  Lottie,  isn't  it  time  to  be  looking  after  the  tea?  " 

"  Yes,  mother,"  she  replied,  "  I  am  going  this  moment." 

"  Please  don't  go  just  yet  awhile.     It's  quite  early." 

"  I  must  go  now." 

"  Well,  I'm  wid  ye  then.  Isn't  there  anything  I  can 
do  to  help  you  ?  " 

"  I've  helped  you  so  much  with  the  list,  haven't  I  ?  " 

"  Indeed  ye've  done  more  than  that,  Miss  Lottie,  you've 
spoken  kindly  words  to  a  poor  fellow  that  hasn't  many 
friends  in  this  world,  and  words  that  he'll  remember  all 
his  life." 

"  I  didn't  know  anything  I  said  was  so  important  as 
all  that;  "but  here  again  she  experienced  a  thrill  almost 
equal  to  the  reading  of  a  fascinating  romance,  for  it  might 
be  coincidence  or  it  might  not — he  said  he  never  read 
these  immortal  works — yet  it  was  undoubted  that  in  most 
of  them  the  slightest  words  of  the  heroine  had  a  life-ex- 
tending effect  on  the  well-b^ing  of  the  hero.  The  two 
walked  out  into  the  kitchen  together,  he  carefully  closing 
the  door  behind  them  to  give  a  greater  effect  of  being 
alone 

"  Isn't  there  anything  I  can  do  to  help  ?  Wood  to  chop, 
a  fire  to  light,  or  water  to  carry  ?  " 

"  No,  thank  you.  But  you  might  go  out  to  the  fields 
and  walk  back  with  my  father  when  he  returns.  Then 
you  would  have  a  chance  of  talking  over  the  voters." 

Patrick  was  quick  to  see  that  she  did  not  desire  her 
father  and  brother  to  come  home  and  find  them  there  to- 
gether. 

"  I'll  do  it,"  he  said,  "  this  very  moment.  But  I  want 
another  talk  with  you.  There  are  lots  of  things  I  didn't 
have  a  chance  to  mention  this  afternoon.  Won't  you 
come  out  to  the  front  gate  after  supper  ?  " 


66  The  Victors 

The  girl  shook  her  head. 

"  Please  come  if  you  can  slip  away.  I'll  be  out  there 
anyhow,  and  if  you  don't  come  I'll  be  thinking  of  what 
you  told  me." 

"  You'd  better  get  to  the  fields,  if  you  want  to  have 
a  talk  with  my  father  about  the  voters'  list." 

"  Will  you  come  to  the  gate  to-night  ?  " 

"  No,  I  won't." 

"Why?" 

"  Because  I  don't  go  out  to  the  gate  even  with  my 
friends,  and  it's  not  likely  I'm  going  with  a  stranger." 

"  I'd  forgotten  I  was  a  stranger,"  said  the  young  man 
in  a  doleful  voice.  Then  with  a  semi-comical  air  of 
throwing  a  load  of  sorrow  from  his  mind  he  looked  up 
at  her,  a  twinkle  in  his  eye,  and  added : 

"  I  am  not  as  much  of  a  stranger  now  as  I  was  this 
morning,  am  I  ?  " 

"  I  don't  suppose  you  are." 

"  Then  it's  wearing  off  gradually.  Will  ye  be  in  the 
parlour  to-morrow  afternoon  ?  " 

"  Perhaps." 

"  Then  I'm  off  to  the  fields  at  once,  and  here's  hoping 
to-morrow  will  come  quickly." 

From  the  kitchen  window  she  saw  him  disappear  down 
the  lane  that  led  to  the  back  of  the  farm. 


CHAPTER   V 

"  DOING  NOTHING  FOR  A  BRIBE  " 

FOR  the  next  few  days  Maguire  was  the  busiest  man 
in  the  state  of  Michigan.  He  went  about  his  work  with 
great  cheerfulness,  hail-fellow-well-met  with  everyone, 
a  good  story  to  tell  where  a  story  was  appreciated,  as  was 
the  case  nearly  everywhere,  yet  equally  ready  to  talk 
serious  politics  with  those  of  an  argumentative  turn  of 
mind.  If  ridiculed,  as  he  often  was  for  working  in  a 
contest  that  did  not  concern  him,  he  took  everything  said 
with  the  utmost  equanimity,  often  returning  as  good  as 
he  received  in  the  way  of  banter,  but  always  with  a  spice 
of  kindliness  that  left  no  sting  in  a  hard-hitting  retort. 
Yet  no  matter  how  distant  a  part  of  the  district  he  was 
canvassing  he  managed  to  return  every  afternoon  to 
the  farm  parlour,  "  trying  to  wear  down  the  feeling  of 
being  a  stranger  entirely,"  as  he  said. 

When  a  week  had  passed  he  announced  to  farmer  By- 
field  that  they  must  call  a  meeting  of  the  anti-ditchers  at 
the  schoolhouse.  "  I  know  everybody  in  the  district 
and  want  to  be  sure,  if  possible,  that  we  get  none  of  the 
opposition  there.  The  other  side  is  working  hard,  but 
they're  working  quietly.  We  must  get  up  a  fund,  or  we're 
a  beaten  crowd.  I'll  give  the  word  round,  and  invite  only 
the  right  people  who  are  in  earnest  against  the  ditch." 

On  the  night  of  the  meeting  the  audience  gathered 
slowly  and  casually,  as  if  they  did  not  expect  it  would  do 
any  particular  good  or  harm,  but  that  anyhow  they  might 
as  well  be  there  to  see  what  was  going  to  happen.  When 
at  length  the  schoolroom  was  nearly  filled  and  Maguire 
with  energetic  effort  had  persuaded  those  who  were  lin- 
gering round  the  gate  and  gossiping  to  come  inside,  push- 
ing down  those  contentedly  sitting  on  the  fence,  Byfield 

67 


68  The  Victors 

was  unanimously  voted  into  the  chair,  and  the  meeting 
was  called  to  order. 

"  I  don't  know  just  exactly  what  we're  here  for,"  said 
the  chairman  in  non-committal  fashion;  "but  I  guess  it's 
to  hear  what  the  canvasser's  got  to  say,  and  if  he's  got 
anything  to  say  now's  his  chance." 

This  could  scarcely  be  called  an  enthusiastic  introduc- 
tion, but  Maguire  stepped  forward  as  briskly  as  if  it  had 
been  a  most  flattering  eulogy  of  his  oratorical  powers. 

"  Gentlemen,"  began  the  speaker,  "  I've  been  riding 
and  tramping  round  this  neighbourhood  for  over  a  week 
and  have  had  a  good  time  and  have  met  a  lot  of  nice 
people  that  I  didn't  know  before,  and  they've  met  me,  so 
we're  even  on  that  score.  I've  had  a  meal  at  most  of 
your  houses,  and  never  had  so  much  that  was  good  to 
eat  before,  so  that's  where  I'm  ahead.  Now,  I've  called 
this  meeting  to  let  you  know  just  how  the  case  stands. 
Boys,  we're  licked !  " 

''  That's  encouraging."  "  You  didn't  need  to  call  a 
meeting  to  tell  us  that.  We'd  a  found  it  out  soon 
enough,"  came  cries  from  different  parts  of  the  room, 
amid  general  laughter. 

"  Yes,  you'd  have  found  it  out  the  day  after  the  voting, 
but  I  thought  it  was  a  pity  to  keep  you  waiting  that  long. 
People  these  days  like  to  get  news  as  soon  as  they  can. 
I've  got  this  thing  down  fine,  and  if  the  polling  was  to 
take  place  to-morrow  we'd  be  snowed  under  by  six  votes." 

"  Not  much  of  a  snow-under,"  was  someone's  com- 
ment. 

"  No,  but  a  majority  of  one  against  you  is  as  good  as 
a  northern  Michigan  blizzard.  The  taxes  will  be  just  as 
beavy  for  the  next  ten  years  as  if  the  majority  was  a 
thousand.  But  there  isn't  any  need  to  let  it  go  at  this.  A 
contest's  never  won  or  lost  till  the  last  vote's  counted." 

"  Yes,  it  is.  It's  lost  or  won  when  the  last  vote's 
dropped  in  the  ballot  box,  some  little  time  before  the 
counting  ends." 

The  self-evident  truth  of  this  interruption  brought 
forth  cheers. 

"  You've  got  me  there,"  admitted  Maguire  gjcd-na- 


"  Doing  nothing  for  a  bribe  "  69 

turedly,  "  and  perhaps  the  case  is  really  decided  some  little 
time  before  even  the  last  man  puts  in  his  paper.  But 
what  I  wanted  to  say  was  that  while  there's  life  there's 
hope,  or  to  put  it  to  suit  the  times,  while  there's  cash 
there's  hope.  Now  there's  between  twelve  and  fifteen 
votes  in  this  district  that's  against  us  to-night, 
but  not  very  strongly  against  us.  I  have  reason 
to  know  that  the  other  side  is  putting  up  a  little 
of  the  spondulix,  wherever  it's  coming  from.  That's 
the  reason  there's  six  votes  against  us.  They're  do- 
ing it  on  the  cheap  and  on  a  very  narrow  margin, 
but  they  think  it's  enough,  and  so  it  is,  unless  we  go 
them  a  little  better,  but  now  if  we  put  up  a  little  pile  and 
keep  quiet  about  it  till  polling  day  comes,  they  won't  get 
suspicious  until  it's  too  late  to  do  anything.  They  don't 
think  I'm  working  this  racket,  and  even  if  they  did  I 
don't  suppose  they'd  be  afraid  of  anything  I  could  do.  I 
tell  'em  I'm  a  pedlar,  and  that's  the  truth.  They  ask  me 
what  interest  I  have  in  this  thing,  and  I  tell  'em  that  I  like 
to  see  a  fight,  on  general  principles." 

"  We  could  tell  'em  bettern  that,"  cried  a  farmer  in  the 
audience.  "  You're  interested  in  getting  up  an  election 
stake  purse.  That's  what  you're  interested  in.  I  saw 
it  coming  this  while  back  and  suspicioned  what  this  meet- 
ing was  called  for,  but  you  don't  get  a  cent  out  of  me, 
ditch  or  no  ditch." 

There  was  a  murmur  of  approval  which  welcomed  the 
sentiments  of  this  outspoken  man,  and  the  tide  seemed 
setting  in  against  the  industrious  Maguire.  A  subscrip- 
tion is  never  popular,  and  these  rural  residents  had  a 
keen  scent  for  a  beggar. 

"  You  said  last  meeting,"  continued  the  objector, 
"  that  organisation  would  be  enough,  and  said  you  didn't 
want  no  cash.  I'll  leave  it  to  the  chairman  if  you  didn't,, 
for  he  asked  you." 

The  chairman  made  no  response,  but  sat  there  glum 
and  uncomfortable,  thinking  he  was  going  to  lose  the 
week's  boarding  money,  as,  indeed,  he  had  long  since  sus- 
pected would  be  the  case.  Maguire  put  on  a  look  of 
injured  innocence  that  was  seraphic  to  behold. 


70  The  Victors 

"  There  was  a  man  in  New  York  that  made  a  bet  he 
would  go  to  one  of  the  country  fairs  that  fall  and  peddle 
genuine  ten-dollar  bills  for  ten  cents  each,  and  the  bet  was 
that  he  would  get  no  takers  among  the  farmers,  although 
the  three-card-monte  sharp  would  be  driving  a  roaring 
business.  Well,  he  got  a  lot  of  brand  new  crisp  suspicious 
looking  bills  outen  the  bank,  each  one  as  good  as  the 
United  States  that  backed  them,  and  sure  enough  he  never 
got  an  offer,  till  a  policeman  came  and  ran  him  in  on 
charge  of  trying  to  pass  counterfeit  money.  Next  day 
when  the  farmers  found  out  that  the  money  was  genuine, 
they  was  all  a-kicking  themselves,  but  then  it  was  too 
late.  Now  I'm  peddling  ten-dollar  bills  to-night  and  offer- 
ing 'em  at  ten  cents  and  this  man.  in  the  corner  says,  '  You 
don't  get  a  cent  out  er  me.'  P'raps  I  don't,  but  neither 
did  the  other  fellow  that  was  peddling  the  real  bills.  Now 
the  ten-dollar  bills  I'm  offering  you  to-night  are  not  in  my 
pockets,  but  in  yours.  They're  the  bills  that  will  come 
out  year  after  year,  as  you're  paying  taxes  on  this  ditch. 
And  then  there's  another  thing  that  I  want  you  to  pay 
attention  to.  This  here  business — 

"  Just  wait  a  minute,  Mr.  Maguire,  and  let  me  speak. 
We  all  admit  that  we  don't  want  to  pay  taxes  on  this 
ditch.  There's  no  use  wasting  talk  on  that  subject,  but  I 
take  it  that  what  my  friend  in  the  corner  means,  and  what 
we  all  mean,  is  that  we're  not  such  jays  as  to  get  up  a 
fund  for  some  stranger  to  spend  as  he  likes  and  give  us 
whatever  account  he  pleases  of  the  blowing  in  of  the 
money.  I'm  not  saying  that  the  money  wouldn't  be 
properly  spent,  but  some  might  think  there  was  a  leak, 
and  I  don't  see  how  we  could  prove  there  wasn't." 

"  Now  that's  the  way  I  like  to  hear  a  man  talk,"  cried 
Maguire,  enthusiasm  and  admiration  for  free  speech 
.beaming  from  his  countenance.  "  You  see,  some  of  you 
folks  are  going  off  at  half-cock.  You're  shooting  off 
your  mouths  before  giving  me  a  chance  to  tell  you  what 
I'm  at.  There's  a  right  and  a  wrong  way  of  doing  every- 
thing, and  I'm  going  to  show  you  the  right  way  of  going 
about  this  affair,  and  so  far  as  wanting  any  money 
you  subscribe  to  leak  into  my  pocket,  what  little 


"Doing  nothing  for  a  bribe"  71 

money  I've  got  is  going  to  leak  the  other  way."  The 
speaker  pulled  from  his  purse  a  dollar  bill,  and  waving  it 
in  the  air  slapped  it  down  on  the  teacher's  desk  with  a  re- 
sounding crack  of  his  knuckles  on  the  board,  in  front  of 
the  chairman.  "  Money  talks,  as  the  old  woman  said 
when  she  kept  tavern,"  he  continued  in  a  loud  voice,  "  and 
nowhere  does  it  talk  more  to  the  point  than  at  an  election. 
There's  my  dollar,  and  it's  just  as  good  a  dollar  as  any 
man's  dollar  in  this  crowd.  I  head  the  subscription  list: 
'  Patrick  Maguire,  Es-quire,  one  dollar!'  Now,  how  am 
I  going  to  prevent  this  dollar  that  I  have  earned  go- 
ing into  some  pocket  where  it  doesn't  belong?  How  am 
I  going  to  be  sure  that  this  here  bill  goes  to  keep  down 
taxation  in  this  district?  I'll  tell  you  how,  and  it's  as 
easy  as  rolling  off  a  log.  You  appoint  right  here  and 
now  a  finance  committee  of  three  members  or  more 
or  less,  and  see  that  you  put  in  men  you  can  trust ; 
men  that  can't  be  fooled  by  me  or  any  other  man.  Can 
such  men  be  found  in  this  meeting?  Well,  I  should  smile! 
It  would  be  an  insult  to  the  honesty  and  intelligence  of 
the  community  if  any  one  here  said  they  couldn't.  Now 
the  subscriptions  will  be  paid  in  to  this  committee  and 
paid  out  by  this  committee.  They'll  look  over  every  item 
before  it  is  paid  and  see  that  it  is  right  before  they  settle 
it.  If  any  man  can  get  money  that  doesn't  belong  to 
him  from  three  hard-headed,  common-sense  farmers, 
why,  hang  it,  he  has  a  right  to  it,  that's  all  I've  got  to  say. 
I  know  I  haven't  brains  enough  to  try  it  on.  And  now 
while  I'm  on  my  legs,  anyhow,  here's  a  funny  thing  I'd 
like  to  call  your  attention  to.  You  seem  to  have  got  it 
in  your  heads  that  a  man  can't  have  an  interest  in  a  con- 
test unless  there's  boodle  in  it  for  him.  I've  been  asked 
a  hundred  times  if  I've  been  asked  once,  '  Whatter  you 
going  to  make  out  of  this  thing  ? '  Can't  a  man  have  an 
interest  in  a  norse-race  without  having  a  bet  on  ?  Can't 
a  man  have  an  interest  in  a  presidential  election  without 
expecting  to  be  made. secretary  of  the  treasury?  Why, 
there's  not  a  man  in  this  room  but  has  spent  time  and 
shouted  himself  hoarse  and  helped  put  up  a  liberty  pole 
and  tore  around  promiscus  when  he  wasn't  making  a 


72  The  Victors 

cent  or  standing  in  to  get  the  office  of  pound-master,  just 
because  he  had  an  interest  in  the  way  things  were  running, 
and  knew  durned  well  he  wasn't  going  to  make  a  cent  by 
it.  Well,  that's  the  way  with  me  about  this  here  ditch. 
It  doesn't  matter  a  red  cent  to  me  which  way  the  thing 
goes,  but  I  tell  you,  gentlemen,  I  don't  like  to  get  licked, 
even  if  it  was  only  my  pup  in  a  dog  fight,  and  that's  what's 
the  matter  with  me.  Now,  gentlemen,  appoint  your 
finance  committee." 

The  eloquent  Maguire,  with  a  wave  of  his  hand  that 
seemed  to  shift  all  responsibility  from  his  shoulders  to 
the  shoulders  of  the  meeting,  took  his  seat,  and  for  a 
few  moments  there  was  silence ;  then  a  buzz  of  whispers ; 
finally  the  previous  objector  arose  and  said : 

"  I  think  the  last  speaker  has  talked  like  a  man,  and 
has  spoken  straight  from  the  shoulder,  as  one  might  say, 
and  I  agree  with  him  that  if  he  can  get  the  money  from 
the  committee's  pocket  into  his  own  he  deserves  it,  and 
we  deserve  to  lose  it.  I  move  that  Mr.  Byfield,  our  pres- 
ent chairman,  be  appointed  chairman  of  the  finance  com- 
mittee, and  that  he  nominate  two  others  to  assist  him." 

"  I  second  the  motion."  "  Seconded,  seconded,"  came 
from  all  parts  of  the  hall. 

"  Gentlemen,  I'd  ruther  have  nothing  to  do  with  it," 
protested  Byfield,  half  rising.  "  Mr.  Maguire  is  staying 
at  my  place,  and  so  I  think  it  would  be  better  all  round 
to  have  some  outsider.  I  don't  want  the  job."  There 
were  cries  of  "  Go  it,  Byfield."'  "  Don't  back  out."  "  Put 
the  motion."  "  Moved  and  seconded."  But  Byfield  sat 
there  shaking  his  head,  until  the  man  who  made  the  mo- 
tion got  on  his  feet  again. 

"  There's  something  in  what  Mr.  Byfield  says.  I'd 
forgotten  that  Mr.  Maguire  was  staying  at  his  house,  and 
of  course  it  wouldn't  be  pleasant  to  have  to  keep  watch  on 
a  guest,  for  when  all's  said  and  done,  that's  what  our 
action  amounts  to.  For  my  part  I  would  be  perfectly 
willing  to  trust  Mr.  Maguire,  for  .he  talks  the  way  I  like 
to  hear  a  man  talk,  but  we  want  to  satisfy  everybody, 
and  simply  because  I  believe  in  him  I  want  to  see  the 
game  carried  on  according  to  his  own  proposal,  which 


"  Doing  nothing  for  a  bribe  "  73 

strikes  me  as  perfectly  fair  to  himself  and  everybody  else 
and  leaves  no  chance  for  saying  '  I  told  you  so  '  after 
the  thing's  over.  Now,  who  was  it  made  the  first  objec- 
tion? I  think  it  was  you,  Mr.  Slade,  over  in  the  corner. 
All  right ;  Mr.  Slade  nods  his  head.  Very  well,  I  move 
that  Mr.  Jonas  Slade  be  finance  committee  all  by  himself, 
or  call  him  secretary  and  treasurer  if  you  like.  I've  just 
been  thinking  that  committees  are  rather  cumbersome 
affairs,  and  it  will  be  difficult  in  these  busy  times  to  get 
three  men  together  very  often,  while  if  Mr.  Maguire  has 
to  visit  them  separately  that  will  take  a  lot  of  time  and 
also  no  decisions  will  be  arrived  at,  for  one  man  will  say 
he's  willing  to  do  what  the  other  two  agree  to,  and  so 
we  won't  have  any  end  to  the  running  back  and  forward, 
and  we  will  have  divided  responsibility,  if  there  is  a  dis- 
pute later  about  the  disposal  of  the  cash.  A  will  say  he 
never  agreed  to  this  or  that,  and  B  will  say  he  thought 
that  was  what  A  and  C  wanted,  and  so  there  we  will  be 
in  the  dangdest  muddle,  everybody  blaming  someone  else. 
I  know  how  it  is,  because  I've  served  on  committees  my- 
self and  mighty  thankless  work  it  is.  Now  we  all  know 
Mr.  Slade,  and  we  know  that  if  any  man  wants  a  dollar 
outen  him  he  didn't  earn  he  has  to  get  up  pretty  early 
in  the  morning." 

There  was  laughter  at  this,  in  which  Slade  himself 
joined.  He  was  evidently  proud  of  his  reputation,  and 
his  character  appeared  to  be  well  understood  by  his 
neighbours. 

"  Therefore  I  move  that  Mr.  Slade  be  appointed  to  take 
charge  of  whatever  money  is  collected  and  see  that  it 
is  properly  disbursed." 

The  motion  being  as  vociferously  seconded  as  the  other 
the  chairman  put  it,  and  it  was  carried  unanimously. 

"  Now,  gentlemen,"  said  Maguire,  stepping  forward 
to  the  desk  as  cheerfully  and  briskly  as  if  everything  was 
going  his  way,  "  you've  done  exactly  the  right  thing,  and 
after  hearing  the  reasons  for  one  man  rather  than  three 
or  five  I  have  to  admit  that  the  mover's  plan  is  better 
than  mine.  I've  put  my  own  name  at  the  head  of  this 
list  because  I  subscribed  a  dollar,  but  I'm  quite  ready 'to 


74  The  Victors 

put  it  below  any  name  that  has  bigger  figures  opposite 
it.  I  think  I  see  five  dollars  in  Mr.  Slade's  eye  because  of 
the  handsome  unanimous  vote  he  got.  Come  up  to  the 
captain's  office  and  settle,  Mr.  Slade." 

But  the  cautious  Slade  contented  himself  with  putting 
down  another  dollar,  being  ashamed  to  make  it  less,  al- 
though he  cursed  the  generous  stranger  in  his  heart 
and  wished  someone  had  started  the  list  with  twentv- 
five  cents.  Others  objected  that  they  had  no  money  with 
them ;  but  Maguire  said  all  they  had  to  do  was  to  put 
down  the  sum  they  wished  to  subscribe,  and  he  would  be 
only  too  pleased  to  call  round  for  the  money  and  pay  it 
in  to  the  treasurer.  So,  once  the  ball  started  to  roll,  none 
escaped,  although  few  put  down  a  larger  amount  than 
Maguire.  All  in  all,  there  was  given  and  promised  the 
sum  of  fifty-seven  dollars  before  the  meeting  broke  up  and 
its  members  went  home. 

During  the  next  few  days  Maguire  saw  much  of  Slade, 
for  he  industriously  collected  all  the  outstanding  money 
and  brought  it  to  the  treasurer  bit  by  bit  until  the  full 
amount  was  coralled  in  the  latter's  safe-keeping.  The 
farmer  always  greeted  the  energetic  young  man  with  -a 
cunning,  knowing  leer,  as  much  as  to  say :  "  You  haven't 
got  any  of  this  cash  yet."  But  Maguire  displayed  no 
anxiety  about  the  money,  never  mentioned  it,  in  fact,  ex- 
cept to  say  once  or  twice  that  he  did  not  think  it  would 
be  enough,  and  that  if  he  found  it  failed  to  bridge  the 
chasm  he  proposed  to  return  it  to  the  subscribers,  as 
Slade  had  the  list,  for  there  was  no  use  in  throwing  good 
money  away  uselessly,  a  sentiment  with  which  Mr.  Slade 
cordially  agreed.  Slade  experienced  some  difficulty  in 
understanding  this  frank  open-hearted  young  man  who 
worked  without  ceasing  in  what  he  was  beginning  to  re- 
gard as  a  lost  cause,  and  who  never  even  hinted  that  he 
would  like  something  on  account. 

Early  on  the  morning  before  polling  day  Maguire  ar- 
rived at  the  Slade  homestead  just  as  the  farmer  was  about 
to  set  out  for  the  fields  with  his  men.  He  did  not  seem 
too  well  pleased  at  the  incursion  of  a  visitor  at  such  an 
important  moment. 


"  Doing  nothing  for  a  bribe  "  75 

"  I've  got  this  thing  coppered  at  last,  Mr.  Slade !  "  cried 
the  young  man,  in  high  feather.  "  I've  got  it  all  down 
fine,  but  I  tell  you  it  has  cost  a  lot  of  work,  although  now 
we  are  sure  to  win." 

"Yes?  Well,  that's  all  right,"  said  the  farmer,  with- 
out enthusiasm. 

"  Now,  I've  got  to  have  a  talk  with  you  right  away," 
persisted  Maguire. 

"  Couldn't  you  come  back  in  the  evening?  I'm  bus] 
now." 

"  I  know  it ;  but  I've  got  to  have  you  in  the  evening, 
too,  and  I  called  round  so  that  there  would  be  no  hitch 
about  that.  It's  important.  You'd  better  tell  your  hired 
men  what  to  do,  if  they  don't  know  already,  and  come  into 
the  house  with  me  for  ten  minutes." 

"  Can't  you  walk  out  to  the  fields  with  me,  amd  talk  as 
we  go  along?  " 

"  Well,  now,  Mr.  Slade,  I've  tried  to  save  you  all  the 
bother  I  could  about  this  whole  affair ;  but  to-morrow  the 
polling  takes  place,  and  I've  got  to  have  a  talk  with  you 
right  now." 

"  If  you  want  any  money,  I  give  you  fair  warning  that 
I  won't  part  with  a  cent  except  for  accounts  shown  and 
receipts  taken.  And  if  you  want  to  see  me  for  anything 
else,  you  can  talk  to  me  as  well  going  to  the  fields  as  in  the 
house." 

"  Why,  of  course ;  that's  the  arrangement  and  that's 
right.  I  can't  be  hired  to  touch  a  dollar  of  the  money, 
and  you  can  bet  your  boots  on  that.  You  were  nominated 
and  elected  unanimously  to  handle  this  cash,  and,  what's 
more,  you  accepted.  It  was  because  I  didn't  intend  to 
have  anything  to  do  with  the  fund  that  I  proposed  a  com- 
mittee, for  you  mustn't  forget  that  the  reason  you  were 
appointed  was  because  I  proposed  it.  You  have  had  a 
wrong  idea  about  what  I  wanted  done  all  along.  I  saw 
that,  but  it  didn't  matter  to  me,  and  I  said  nothing.  You 
couldn't  hire  me  to  handle  the  money." 

"Oh,  of  course  not,"  sneered  the  farmer. 

"  I'd  do  anything  to  oblige  a  friend,  Mr.  Slade,  or  al- 
most anything,  and  you  know  it,  for  I've  taken  the  whole 


76  The  Victors 

burden  of  this  thing  so  that  you  wouldn't  have  any  trou- 
ble, but  now  it's  come  to  the  point  where'  you  must  act ; 
you  must  do  what  you  were  'lected  to  do." 

"And  what  was  that?  " 

"  Why,  see  that  the  money  goes  where  it  was  intended 
to  go,  of  course,  which  is  where  it  will  do  the  most  good." 

"  Well,  I'm  ready." 

"  Of  course  you  are.  I  knew  you  wouldn't  take  a  job 
and  funk  out  at  the  last  minute,  leaving  all  your  friends 
in  the  lurch." 

"  Oh,  I've  never  done  that  and  don't  intend  to  begin 
now." 

"  Bully  for  you.  You  know  some  of  the  fellows  have 
been  saying  to  me,  '  Slade'll  back  out  when  it  comes  to  the 
pinch,'  but  I  told  'em  they  didn't  know  what  they  were 
talking  about." 

"Who  said  that?" 

"  I'll  tell  you  after  the  voting,  but  come  into  the  house 
now,  for  there  is  a  lot  to  do." 

The  farmer  reluctantly  gave  some  orders  to  the  men 
who  were  waiting  for  him  on  the  wagon,  and  they  drove 
off  to  their  work.  Then  he  conducted  the  canvasser  into 
the  house. 

"  Now,"  said  Maguire,  cheerfully,  "  we  can  talk  with- 
out anyone  overhearing  us,  and  that's  something  these 
times.  I've  got  a  list  of  eleven  men  who  will  vote  our 
way — for  a  little  consideration.  That  will  give  us  all 
the  majority  we  want  to-morrow.  I've  promised  'em  five 
dollars  apiece." 

"  Five  dollars  apiece !  Why,  jumping  ginger,  you  can 
buy  the  whole  state  for  that." 

"  No,  you  can't.  And,  what's  more,  if  the  other  side 
get  an  inkling  of  this,  they'll  see  our  rise  and  go  us  one 
better.  The  only  reason  we  can  do  it  for  this  money  is 
that  the  other  side  thinks  there's  no  work  being  done  by 
us.  I've  let  on  I  was  peddling,  and  they're  watching 
Byfield  and  you  and  some  of  the  rest.  They  see  you 
working  away  in  your  fields  and  not  taking  much  interest 
in  the  thing,  so  they  think  they're  safe.  It  will  cost  you 
twice  as  much,  or  three  or  four  times,  if  they  get  a  hint 


"  Doing  nothing  for  a  bribe"  77 

of  what's  going  on,  and  it's  a  blessing  for  us  that  the  vot- 
ing's to-morrow,  for  we  couldn't  have  kept  things  quiet 
much  longer.  As  it  is,  two  of  this  eleven  knew  of  the 
money  subscribed  at  the  meeting  and  wanted  more ;  but 
I  told  them  no  one  was  getting  more  than  five  dollars  and 
they  ain't,  either." 

"  Five  dollars !  Why  did  you  make  such  a  bargain 
before  telling  me?  " 

"  I  didn't  make  any  bargain.  You  will  have  the  last 
say-so  about  it.  If  you  can  get  them  any  cheaper,  all 
right,  but  you'll  risk  everything.  They'll  be  able  to  get 
ten  dollars  each  to-morrow  if  they  get  the  slightest  hint 
how  things  are  goin^." 

"  Well,  then,  what  do  you  say  I'm  to  do?  " 

"  I  want  you  to  take  the  list  and  pay  the  men.  I  think 
the  best  plan  will  be  to  take  this  money  that's  all  in  quar- 
ters and  half  dollars  and  greasy  bills  in  to  town  and  get 
them  changed  for  new  five-dollar  bills,  then  you  can  slip 
one  out  of  your  vest  pocket  without  any  one  knowing 
what's  being  done." 

"  I  don't  see  the  need  of  all  that  trouble.  We  can  make 
this  money  into  piles  of  five  dollars  each,  or  count  it  out 
right  there." 

"  Well,  just  as  you  like.  The  other  way  would  be 
safer,  for  there  would  be  no  marked  bills  among  it.  Old 
hands  at  this  sort  of  business  always  handle  new  money." 

"What  for?" 

"  They  seem  to  think  it's  the  best  way.  But  of  course 
you  do  it  any  plan  that  suits  you." 

"  Where's  your  list  of  the  eleven  men  ?  " 

"  I've  got  it  right  here  in  my  pocket,  but  before  I  show 
it  to  you  I've  promised  these  men  that  I'd  take  your  word 
of  honour  that  you  would  never  breathe  a  word  about  it 
to  a  living  soul." 

"  Why,  what's  all  this  fuss  about  a  simple  little  mat- 
ter?" 

"  That's  exactly  what  I  told  'em,  but  you  know  what 
men  are  when  they're  just  a  little  scared.  I  said  to  them, 
says  I,  '  Why,  Slade  will  never  whisper  a  word,  as  much 
for  his  own  safety  as  for  yours. ' ' 


78  The  Victors 

"My  safety?" 

"  Of  course.  That's  what  I  said.  '  It's  six  of  one 
and  half  a  dozen  of  the  other.  It  isn't  likely  a  sensible 
man  like  Slade  is  going  to  put  himself  into  a  box  merely 
to  make  things  unpleasant  for  you.'  I  told  'em  that  all 
right  enough,  but  they  made  me  say  I'd  get  you  to  prom- 
ise." 

"  I  don't  know  what  the  devil  you're  talking  about," 
exclaimed  the  farmer,  staring  across  the  table  in  bewil- 
derment at  his  visitor,  while  his  visitor  looked  with  equal 
bewilderment  at  him. 

"Talking  about?  I'm  talking  about  buying  votes  for 
five  dollars  each." 

"Well,  what  of  it?" 

"  Nothing,  except  that  it's  bribery,  and  a  state-prison 
offence  in  Michigan.  I  tell  you  a  man  can't  be  too  care- 
ful monkeying  with  that  sort  of  business,  and  some  of 
these  men  know  it.  I  guess  they've  been  there  before." 

"  What  ?    In  state  prison  ?  " 

"  No.  In  the  bribery  business,  but  of  course  they 
know  the  law  on  the  subject.  Still,  it's  all  serene  enough 
if  a  man  goes  the  right  way  about  it,  and  I  told  them  they 
were  as  safe  as  a  church.  '  You  don't  need  to  be  afraid 
of  Mr.  Slade's  saying  anything,  I  says  to  'em,  '  because 
if  you  were  to  get  up  and  shout  that  Slade  give  you  five 
dollars  for  your  vote,  he'd  have  to  deny  it  in  self-defence.'  " 

"  But  I  never  undertook  to  bribe  men." 

"  Why,  yes,  you  did,  Mr.  Slade.  What  else  was  the 
money  got  together  for?  There  weren't  no  other  ex- 
penses. I  told  'em  at  the  first  meeting  that  they  were 
defeated  if  they  didn't  get  the  men  on  the  fence  to  come 
down  on  our  side.  Well,  how  were  you  to  get  them  down 
if  you  didn't  use  money?  There  ain't  no  other  expenses 
except  that  in  this  campaign,  and  everybody  knows  there 
ain't.  That's  why  the  second  meeting  was  called.  I 
wanted  a  committee  chosen  because  I  didn't  want  to 
handle  this  money  for  buying  votes.  That's  why  old 
Byfield  refused.  That's  why  they  didn't  get  the  other 
two  men  on  the  committee ;  they  knew  it  was  safer  the 
fewer  there  was  in  it,  and  I  saw  that  the  minute  it  was 
proposed,  and  said  so." 


"  Doing  nothing  for  a  bribe  "  79 

Slade,  with  jaw  dropped  and  plain  consternation  writ- 
ten on  his  face,  looked  steadily  across  the  table  at  the 
earnest  talker.  In  a  general  way  he  knew  that  bribery 
was  contrary  to  law,  but  never  before  had  the  matter  been 
brought  home  to  him  in  this  direct  way.  After  every 
election  and  during  the  contests  accusations  of  bribery 
and  corruption  were  hurled  indiscriminately  by  one  party 
at  the  other,  and  the  papers  were  full  of  the  subject,  un- 
til the  crime  was  so  familiar  to  him  that  he  looked  on  it 
as  a  matter  of  course  and  never  connected  its  commis- 
sion with  the  interior  of  a  prison. 

"  I  don't  know  as  I  ever  heard  of  anyone  going  to 
jail  for  buying  a  vote,"  he  said  at  last. 

"  Why,  no.  That's  just  what  I've  been  a-telling  'em. 
You  don't  hear  of  it  once  in  a  blue  moon,  and  you 
wouldn't  then  if  people  weren't  so  fond  of  babbling.  A 
man  that  takes  care  and  keeps  quiet  is  all  right  nine 
times  out  of  ten.  That's  what  I  told  old  Byfield  when  we 
were  going  home  from  the  meeting.  '  You  needn't  a 
been  scared,'  I  said  to  him,  '  you'd  a-come  through  all 
right,'  and  he  says  to  me,  '  Why  didn't  you  take  it  ? 
Why  was  you  so  mighty  anxious  to  get  a  committee  ap- 
pointed?'  '  Oh,  well/  I  says  to  him,  '  't  wasn't  on  that  ac- 
count ;  I  simply  wanted  one  of  yourselves  to  handle  the 
money  and  see  that  it  was  spent  right,'  and  then  he 
laughed.  You  know  that  mean  little  laugh  of  his." 

"  See  here,"  said  Slade  with  emphasis,  bringing  his  fist 
down  on  the  table,  "  all  this  money's  going  back  to  them 
that  subscribed  it." 

Maguire's  eyes  opened  wide  and  a  slight  sarcastic 
smile  parted  his  lips.  He  gazed  at  the  troubled  farmer 
with  an  expression  partly  merriment,  partly  curiosity. 

"  Say,  that  would  tickle  old  Byfield  more'n  anything 
that's  happened  in  a  year.  It  'ud  be  better  than  a  horse 
to  him.  That's  just  what  he  said  you'd  do,  but  the  man 
that  moved  you  claimed  that  if  you  did  chuck  up  the  job 
it  'ud  be  in  plenty  time  to  appoint  somebody  else ;  but 
two  or  three  more  agreed  that  you'd  do  it  the  very  last 
minute,  and  the  man  that  moved  you  said :  '  Well,  if  he 
does,  it's  "  good-bye,  John,"  for  him  at  any  election  in 
this  district.' " 


8o  The  Victors 

"  This  money's  going  back  all  the  same,'"  the  farmer 
repeated,  but  with  less  certainty  in  his  tones  than  before. 

"  What  excuse  are  you  going  to  make  ?  " 

"Excuse?  Why,  I'll  tell  'em  truth,  that  I  didn't  un- 
dertake to  bribe  people  and  break  the  law.  I'll  tell  'em 
I'm  a  law-abiding  citizen,  that's  what  I'll  tell  'em.  I'd 
like  to  see  any  of  'em  censure  me  for  standing  by  the 
laws  of  my  country." 

"  Oh,  they  wouldn't  none  of  'em  do  that.  No,  they'd 
take  back  their  money  all  right  enough,  and  they'd  laugh 
to  beat  the  band.  There'd  be  lots  of  fun  over  it  for  a  few 
years ;  but  I  suppose  by  and  by  it  'ud  be  forgotten,  unless 
you  ever  ran  for  office,  and  then  some  one  'ud  be  sure  to 
remember  it.  You  see,  Mr.  Slade,  to  give  back  the  money 
is  simply  out  of  the  question,  because  you  must  then 
either  admit  you're  a  coward  or  a  fool,  as  the  old  woman 
said.  Half'll  believe  the  one  and  half  t'other.  They'll 
all  want  to  know  why  you  didn't  let  some  other  fellow 
tackle  the  job — why  you  didn't  refuse  as  By  field  did — 
shrewd  old  fellow,  Byfield  is — he's  a  lot  deeper'n  I 
thought,  for  I  expected  him  to  take  it,  but  of  course  with 
other  two  helping  him  to  share  the  risk  or  the  blame. 
Well,  as  I  was  saying,  them  that  believe  you  didn't  know 
will  think  you  were  a  fool,  and  the  rest  will  think  you 
just  got  skunked  at  the  last.  Why,  look  here,  Mr.  Slade, 
there  ain't  a  bit  of  danger  in  going  right  on  as  we  in- 
tended to  do  from  the  first.  I'll  go  with  you,  but  I  won't 
go  into  the  houses.  I  won't  see  the  money  paid,  so  there 
ain't  no  witnesses,  except  the  man  you  pay  it  to,  and 
he  won't  squeal  unless  somebody  makes  it  worth  his  while 
to  turn  state's  evidence,  which  ain't  a  likely  thing  to 
happen." 

"  What's  the  matter  with  me  staying  outdoors  and  you 
paying  the  money  inside,  if  it's  so  safe  as  all  that?  " 

Slade  looked  cunningly  at  Maguire,  and  as  this  method 
of  settling  the  difficulty  had  never  occurred  to  the  young 
man  he  wrinkled  his  brow  thoughtfully  and  turned  his 
eyes  upward  toward  the  ceiling,  as  if  by  meditation  he 
mi.T'ht  accustom  himself  to  the  novelty  of  an  unexpected 
proposal.  Then,  with  a  sigh,  he  shook  his  head. 


"  Doing  nothing  for  a  bribe  "  81 

"  No,  that  wouldn't  do.  I  told  the  men  you  would 
hand  them  the  money,  and  if  I  were  to  pay  them  they 
might  think  there  was  some  shenanigan  about  it.  No, 
you're  the  treasurer.  The  meeting  appointed  you,  and 
this  is  the  only  thing  you'll  have  to  do,  for  I've  done  all 
the  rest.  Not  that  I'm  afraid  at  all,  because  as  I  told 
you  there's  no  real  danger  if  everyone  buttons  his  lip 
and  keeps  his  mouth  shut.  The  men  won't  care  as  long 
as  they  get  the  money." 

Slade  spoke  more  eagerly,  "  Let's  see  the  list." 

Maguire  handed  him  a  paper,  and  he  scrutinised  it 
minutely. 

"  Yes,  you've  struck  the  right  crowd.  I  know  that 
gang,  and  a  gallous  lot  they  are.  They'd  vote  against 
their  grandmothers  for  a  dollar." 

"  Well,  if  you  think  I've  offered  them  too  much,  you 
can  beat  'em  down  while  I'm  waiting  outside." 

"  No,  no.  That's  all  right.  But  say,  Maguire,  I'm 
pretty  busy,  and  I've  lost  a  good  deal  of  time  sitting  and 
talking  here  when  I  ought  to  be  out  in  the  fields;  so  I 
don't  see  how  I  can  go  round  with  you  this  afternoon ; 
sure  pop  I  don't.  Now,  you'll  write  me  a  receipt  for  fifty- 
five  dollars  and  I'll  hand  you  the  money.  You  tell  'em 
that  you  thought  it  was  better  not  to  have  too  many  in  this 
business,  and  so's  you  had  made  all  the  arrangements 
you  had  come  round  to  pay  them  the  money.  I  suppose 
you  couldn't  get  a  receipt  out  of  each  one  of  'em,  not  to 
show  round  much,  you  know,  but  just  to  have  everything 
businesslike?  " 

"  Well,  I  don't  think  they  would  be  such  fools  as  to 
do  a  thing  like  that.  Still,  you  can  never  tell.  This  is 
a  mighty  queer  neighbourhood,  and,  anyhow,  it  would 
do  no  more  harm  if  you  would  ask  them  when  you  give 
them  the  boodle." 

"  You  can  bet  your  boots  I  ain't  going  to  give  'em  no 
boodle.  I  to'd  you  I  hain't  got  no  time  to  go  around  and 
see  all  them  people." 

"  It  won't  take  you  so  very  long." 

"  But  you've  got  all  day  to  do  it  in,  and  you've  got  a 
horse,  and  I  hain't  got  a  horse  to  spare;  not  just  nov/. 
6 


82  The  Victors 

I'll  take  your  receipt  for  the  money  all  right  enough,  and 
you  make  it  out  for  '  necessary  'lection  expenses,'  and  I 
guess  they  won't  be  no  questions  asked  if  we  have  a  ma- 
jority agin  the  ditch." 

"  We  11  have  a  majority,  if  the  money's  put  where  peo- 
ple expect  it  to  be  put ;  if  we  haven't,  I'll  guarantee  to  pay 
it  all  back  out  of  my  own  pocket." 

"  Well,  now,  would  you  object  to  putting  that  down 
in  writing,  that  you  give  this  guarantee,  and  then  with 
that  and  the  receipt  I  guess  no  one  can  blame  me." 

"  Why  you  seem  to  be  taking  it  for  granted  that  I'm 
going  to  pay  this  money  to  the  men." 

"  Well,  you  promised  to." 

"When?" 

"  Xot  five  minutes  ago;  at  least,  you  said  as  much  as 
you  would.  What's  the  use  of  talking  of  a  guarantee  if 
you  didn't  mean  to  pay  the  men  ?  " 

"  Oh,  well,  all  right ;  have  it  your  way.  I  ain't  got  no 
farm  to  lose ;  but  I've  got  my  liberty,  and  I  expect  you 
to  keep  mighty  quiet  about  this  here  deal." 

"  Of  course  I'll  keep  quiet ;  besides,  I  won't  see  you  pay 
the  money,  as  you  said  a  while  since,  so  you're  as  safe  as 
you  claimed  I  was." 

;'  That's  so.  Well,  you  make  out  receipt  and  guarantee 
to  suit  yourself,  and  I'll  sign  'em.  You're  the  durndest 
sharpest  business  man  I  ever  see,  and  I  give  you  my  word, 
although  I  hain't  got  nothing  against  you  personally, 
I  wouldn't  care  to  have  any  more  money  dealings  with 
you.  You're  too  sharp  for  a  youngster  like  me,  for 
you've  got  me  to  promise  to  do  a  thing  I  was  bound  to 
have  someone  else  in  this  district  do.  I  didn't  care  much 
who  it  was,  as  long's  it  wa'n't  me." 

Mr.  Slade  chuckled  softly  to  himself  as  he  wrote  out 
the  necessary  documents  that  would  protect  him  if  his 
fellows  ever  called  him  to  strict  account  over  the  expen- 
diture of  the  money.  "  Oh,  we'll  see  you  through  all  right, 
young  fellow,"  he  said. 

"  I  hope  so,"  replied  Maguire,  in  a  tone  of  deep  de- 
spondency. 


CHAPTER  VI 

"  HIS  DISHONESTY  APPEARS  " 

IT  was  still  early  morning  when  Maguire  left  the  Slade 
homestead  to  make  his  way  along  the  side  road  to  his 
boarding-place.  The  young  politician  was  in  some 
anxiety  regarding  his  breakfast,  fearing  he  might  miss 
a  meal  between  the  houses;  breakfast  is  important  to  a 
person  in  good  health.  The  cool,  early  air  was  inspirit- 
ing as  well  as  appetising.  As  Patrick  marched  down  the 
road,  whose  thick  layer  of  dust  was  dampened  on  the 
surface  by  the  dew  of  the  night,  he  left  tracks  behind  him 
as  if  he  walked  through  snow,  yet  the  powdered  earth 
did  not  rise  in  a  cloud  around  him  as  it  would  later  in  the 
day.  He  sang  cheerily : 

I  have  fifteen  dollars  in  my  inside  pocket ; 
Do  you  moind. 

Which  musical  statement,  in  the  circumstances,  was  an 
underestimate  of  the  case.  He  had  actually  fifty-five 
dollars  in  his  trousers  pocket  at  the  moment,  and  he  was 
determined  that  the  bulk  of  it  should  stay  there.  All  in 
all,  the  young  man  was  pleased  with  himself,  and  as  the 
day  was  still  in  its  infancy,  superb  as  far  as  it  had  gone, 
his  voice  rang  out  merrily  over  the  fields  and  was  echoed 
back  to  him  from  remaining  clumps  of  the  ancient  forest 
that  had  once  covered  the  land. 

Arriving  at  the  Byfield  farm,  he  found,  as  he  expected, 
that  the  breakfast  dishes  had  been  cleared  away ;  but  with 
typical  American  rural  hospitality  a  plate  had  been  left 
for  him  on  the  table  and  his  breakfast  was  kept  warm 
in  the  oven.  Lottie  was  alone  in  the  dining-room  and 
Patrick  was  not  without  hope  that  she  was  waiting  for 
him,  as  they  had  had  many  interviews  since  their  first, 

83 


84  The  Victors 

and  were  on  a  basis  of  friendship,  although  she  had  not 
yet  foregathered  with  him  at  the  gate  in  the  evening  as 
he  desired.  He  hungered  for  his  breakfast,  and  also  for 
the  grateful  applause  which  he  felt  was  his  due  as  a  man 
of  parts  who  had  succeeded  in  getting  other  men  to  follow 
his  wishes.  The  desire  for  praise,  or  at  least  for  com- 
mendation, is  almost  universal  in  the  breast  of  man,  and 
the  woman  who  understands  this  establishes  «asy  domin- 
ion over  him.  Thus  have  women  without  beauty  or  youth 
or  any  of  those  qualities  that  are  supposed  to  fascinate 
ruled  empires,  while  stupid  historians,  being  mere  men, 
have  marvelled,  unable  to  account  for  the  power  these 
women  wielded. 

"  We  thought  you  were  lost,"  said  Lottie.  "  You 
surely  weren't  electioneering  so  early  in  the  morning." 

"  No,  Lottie,  I  wasn't — at  least  I  was  electioneering  for 
myself,  and  I  got  elected  every  time.  I  was  over  at  old 
Slade's  and  wanted  to  catch  him  before  he  went  out  to 
the  fields,  w.hich  I  just  did  and  no  mistake.  Caught  him 
every  way  you  put  it.  They  said  at  the  meeting  that  any 
one  who  got  money  out  of  old  Slade  would  have  to  get 
up  early  in  the  morning,  so  I  got  up  early." 

"  And  got  the  money  ?  " 

"  You  bet.  Look-a-there !  "  Maguire,  with  a  gesture 
of  justifiable  pride,  pulled  from  his  pocket  a  handful  of 
bills  and  coins  and  flung  the  accumulation  on  the  table. 

"  My !  "  exclaimed  the  girl,  eyes  opening  wide,  "  what 
a  lot  of  it." 

"  Yes-sir-ee.  Fifty-five  dollars  to  a  cent.  Not  bad 
for  a  week  and  a  half's  work,  is  it  ?  " 

"  Is  that  the  money  they  raised  at  the  meeting?  " 

"  Yah.  All  but  two  dollars,  and  I  expect  to  have  that 
out  of  Slade  before  to-morrow  night.  Say!  You  ought 
t'heard  the  way  I  read  the  riot  act  to  old  Slade !  Oh,  it 
was  as  good  as  a  picnic,  and  his  eyes  simply  bulged,  and 
he  actually  got  pale  at  times,  and  yet  I  clean  forgot  some 
of  the  best  things  I  was  going  to  say  to  him.  And  now 
I  tell  you,"  he  continued  with  great  heartiness,  selecting 
ten  of  the  tattered  bills,  "  I  want  your  mother  to  take  ten 
dollars  for  my  keep  while  I've  been  earning  of  this  pile, 


"  His  dishonesty  appears  "  85 

and  here's  the  boodle."  He  waved  the  money  over 
towards  her,  but  she  shrank  back  from  contact  with  it. 

"  But  it  isn't  yours,"  she  gasped  breathlessly. 

"  It  isn't  all  mine,  but  a  good  share  of  it  is.  You  trust 
P.  Maguire  for  that." 

"  I  thought  it  was  collected  for  election  expenses." 

"  Cert.  That's  right.  I'm  the  biggest  election  ex- 
pense this  part  of  the  country's  got,  and  I'm  going  to  win 
for  them  as  well  as  myself.  Oh,  I'm  giving  'em  value 
for  their  cash,  you  bet.  There's  nothing  mean  about  me." 

"  I — I — I'm  afraid  I  don't  understand.  I  thought  you 
said  you  weren't  going  to  take  anything — that  you  were 
doing  all  this  for  nothing,  and  that's  what  everybody  else 
thinks." 

"  Well,  now,  look  here,  Lottie ;  you're  a  sensible  girl ; 
you  don't  think  I  am  in  this  for  my  health,  do  you  ?  " 

"  Then  why  didn't  you  say  so  at  first  ?  " 

The  young  man  looked  at  her  from  his  half-eaten 
breakfast,  an  expression  of  amazed  injured  innocence  on 
his  face.  The  trend  of  her  questions  and  the  tone  of  her 
voice  bewildered  him.  Was  it  possible  that  she  was  not 
going  to  perceive  and  admire  his  financial  skill  ? 

"  Say  so  at  first  ?  Why,  thunder !  I  wouldn't  have 
got  a  cent  if  I  did.  You  know  that." 

"  Well,  I  don't  know  much  about  these  things,  but  it 
doesn't  strike  me  as  honest  to  keep  for  yourself  what  was 
intended  for  something  else." 

"  Oh,  I  see  what  you  mean.  Why,  there's  just  where 
you  are  mistaken,  Lottie.  Honesty's  my  strong  point.  I 
say  if  a  man  isn't  honest  his  name's  Mud,  and  it  ought  to 
be.  '  Honesty's  the  best  policy'  's  my  motto.  Of  course 
I've  lost  money  by  it,  but  I'd  rather  have  a  clear  con- 
science than  a  wad  of  five-dollar  bills.  I  am  just  going  to 
tell  you  all  about  it,  and  then  you'll  understand.  You  see, 
I  said  I  didn't  want  any  pay,  and  I  don't.  I'll  pay  my- 
self, every  time,  and  don't  you  forget  it.  I  don't  want 
anybody  else  lying  awake  nights  worry'ng  about  how 
Pat  Maguire's  going  to  come  out  of  a  deal.  That's  my 
department,  and  I  look  after  it  every  time.  Yes-sir-ee. 
But  you  think  I'm  hogging  this  money  to  myself  and  not 


86  The  Victors 

giving  value  received.  That's  where  you're  away  off. 
It's  straight  as  a  string,  bargain  and  sale,  cash  down, 
money  paid,  got  the  tin,  signed,  sealed  and  delivered,  wit- 
ness my  hand,  and  everybody  satisfied,  'specially  P.  Ma- 
guire,  Esquire.  It's  just  like  this.  I  don't  charge  'em 
nothing  for  my  valuable  services,  nary  a  red.  But  I  make 
a  little  on  a  deal,  as  we  all  do.  I  buy  eleven  votes  for  one 
dollar  apiece,  market  price,  no  dickering,  cash  paid,  goods 
delivered  and  no  questions  asked.  Them  votes  is  mine, 
but  I've  no  particular  use  for  'em.  I'm  buying  to  sell 
again,  same's  any  respectable  merchant. 

"  All  right ;  I  look  round  for  a  market,  I  charge  five 
dollars  apiece  for  my  stock,  and  it  can't  be  bought 
cheaper,  for  I've  got  a  corner  on  the  market.  All  right ; 
money  is  turned  over,  and  to-morrow  I  turn  over  the 
goods.  Everybody's  satisfied,  and  the  goose  hangs  high. 
What  could  be  honester  than  that  ?  Honest !  Well  I 
should  smile!  That's  just  my  weak  point.  Why,  what 
would  a  dishonest  man  have  done?  He  would  have 
pocketed  the  whole  fifty-five  dollars,  jumped  his  board 
bill,  skipped  by  the  light  of  the  moon,  and  it  would  have 
been  '  good-bye,  John.'  Nobody  could  have  said  a  durned 
word,  except  your  father  for  me  boarding  free.  Yes,  sir, 
I  could  have  come  right  back  here  and  nobody  dared Ve 
put  a  hand  on  me,  for  they  know  what  the  money's  sub- 
scribed for.  But  I'm  an  honest  man,  and  I'm  losing  just 
twenty-one  dollars  by  it ;  there's  eleven  dollars  for  the 
voters  and  ten  dollars  for  my  board  bill.  I'm  not  such  a 
fool  as  to  say  '  honesty's  the  best  policy  '  when  you  lose 
twenty-one  dollars  by  it,  but  that's  me  every  time.  I'm 
a  square  man,  I  am,  and  I  give  you  notice,  Lottie,  I'm 
coming  back  to  this  here  district,  and  I  want  to  come 
back  with  a  clean  conscience  and  have  people  glad  to  see 
me.  I'm  not  jumping  no  board  bills  this  trip.  No,  sir." 

During  this  enunciation  of  principle  there  was,  at  times, 
a  suggestion  of  pathos  in  the  tones  of  the  speaker's  voice, 
alternating  with  the  reverberation  of  that  earnest  indig- 
nation which  comes  upon  a  man  unjustly  censured.  Few 
of  us  submit  patiently  to  the  accusation  of  the  lack  of  some 
quality  on  whose  possession  we  pride  ourselves. 


u  His  dishonesty  appears  "  87 

"  You  have  no  right  to  the  money,"  persisted  the  girl 
with  a  woman's  perverse  ignoring  of  the  inevitableness 
of  logic. 

"  Then  who  has  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know.  It  should  be  used  as  it  was  intended 
to  be  used,  and  if  there  is  any  left  over  that  should  be 
given  back  to  those  who  subscribed  it." 

"  Well  of  all  the —  Now,  if  that  doesn't  beat  the 
Dutch !  That  gets  me  right  where  I  live !  Used  as  was 
intended?  My  stars,  if  it  is  and  the  government  finds  it 
out,  then  them  that  subscribed  will  go  to  state  prison 
where  they  belong.  Used  as — my  land  o'  Goshen — to 
buy  votes !  To  bribe  hard-working  men  to  vote  against 
their  consciences,  so  that  the  schemes  of  these  plotters  will 
come  out  all  right !  And  me — here  I've  been  a-working 
like  a  dozen  niggers  for  nearly  two  weeks,  neglecting  my 
own  business,  and  now  it  don't  none  of  it  belong  to  me ! 
I'm  to  tramp  my  half-soles  off,  talk  till  I  need  a  carload  of 
lozenges  to  get  my  throat  smooth  again,  slave  early  and 
late,  and  then  they're  to  say,  '  We're  much  obliged,  Ma- 
guire ;  you  can  go  to  grass  now  we're  through  with  you.' 
And  what  those  honest  farmers  want  me  to  do,  and  ex- 
pect me  to  do  for  nothing,  is  a  crime  against  the  law  that 
men  are  put  in  jail  for." 

''  Then  you  shouldn't  do  it." 

"  It's  easy  to  say  that,  but  what  would  they  think  of 
me  going  back  on  them  at  the  last  moment?  I'd  be  a 
fine  kind  of  a  sneak,  wouldn't  I?  " 

"  Better  that  than  do  wrong." 

"But  it  isn't  really  wrong;  it's  against  the  law,  that's 
all.  It's  done  every  day  at  every  election  in  the  country 
more  or  less,  gen'lly  more,  I  guess." 

"  That  doesn't  make  it  right.  You  should  give  back 
the  money." 

"  What  would  your  father  say  ?  " 

"What  could  he  say?  I'm  sure  he  didn't  know  the 
money  was  to  be  used  to  commit  a  crime." 

"  But  I  tell  you  people  don't  look  at  it  that  way.  He 
doesn't,  neither  does  any  other  sensible  man.  You've  got 
to  do  this  sort  of  thing  or  get  beat." 


88  The  Victors 

"  Well,  let  them  get  beaten.  That  doesn't  matter,  but 
the  other  does." 

"  I've  gone  too  far  now.     I  can't  go  back  on  them." 

"  If  you  have,  then  don't  return  here,  either  now  or 
at  any  other  time." 

"  Say.  Lottie,-  you  don't  mean  that.  You're  just  angry, 
that's  all.  When  you  come  to  think  over  it  you'll  see 
how  unreasonable  you  are." 

The  girl  remained  silent,  and  Maguire  pushed  back 
his  chair  and  slowly  gathered  up  the  money  that  was  on 
the  table. 

"  Won't  you  give  that  ten  dollars  to  your  mother?  " 

Lottie  shook  her  head ;  her  eyes  were  moist,  but  she 
looked  unflinchingly  at  him  as  if  to  read  his  ultimate  pur- 
pose. 

"  All  right,  then ;  I'll  give  it  to  her  myself." 

"  We  ain't  going  to  charge  you  anything  for  your 
board.  I  told  you  we  didn't  keep  a  boarding-house." 

Lottie  was  determined  to  leave  him  no  escape  from 
doing  what  she  thought  was  right.  Maguire,  with  bent 
head,  seemed  to  be  marking  time.  He  separated  the  sil- 
ver from  the  paper  somewhat  aimlessly,  and  rolling  up  the 
bills  slipped  them  into  one  pocket.  He  counted  the  silver 
once  or  twice,  then  shovelled  it  into  another  pocket.  The 
ten  single-dollar  notes  were  still  on  the  table,  and  he  ran 
each  through  his  fingers  carefully,  pulled  himself  to- 
gether, raised  his  head  suddenly,  then  said  sharply: 

"  You  won't  take  them  ?  " 

"  No." 

"  All  right." 

He  pulled  out  the  roll  he  had  placed  in  his  pocket,  the 
girl  watching  him  intently,  and  selected  a  dollar  bill 
from  the  wad  which  he  placed  with  the  ten  dollars,  mak- 
ing the  total  eleven  dollars,  the  exact  amount  needed  to 
bribe  the  free  and  independent  electors,  as  the  girl  noted. 
These  he  put  in  a  vest  pocket,  and  the  rest  he  returned  to 
their  former  resting-place. 

"  Good-bye,"  he  said,  holding  out  his  hand. 

"  Good-bye,"  she  replied,  with  a  catch  in  hervoice,  her 


"  His  dishonesty  appears  "  gg 

hands  behind  her  back,  as  she  had  been  taught  to  hold 
them  at  school,  and  there  they  remained. 

Maguire  paused  a  moment  with  outstretched  hand  un- 
taken,  then  turned  sharply  on  his  heel  and  went  out, 
closing  the  door  with  no  gentle  pull  behind  him,  leaving 
the  girl  motionless  in  the  centre  of  the  room. 


CHAPTER  VII 

"  BUY  'EM   TO   SELL   AGAIN." 

IT  is  said  that  a  man  feels  better  just  after  breakfast 
than  just  before,  but  Maguire,  on  this  occasion,  was  an 
exception  to  the  rule.  He  had  come  to  the  farmhouse  in  a 
state  of  ecstatic  admiration  of  himself;  he  was  leaving  it 
in  a  condition  of  mental  gloom  and  depression  that  was 
the  more  bitter  because  of  the  injustice  which  caused  it. 
It  is  disappointing  enough  to  miss  the  appreciation  a  man 
knows  to  be  his  due,  but  to  meet  unreasoning  censure 
when  the  appetite  of  expectation  is  whetted  for  merited 
commendation,  arouses  anger  against  the  stupidity  of  our 
fellow-creatures.  He  liked  the  girl,  too,  better  than  any 
one  he  had  ever  met  before ;  still,  he  said  to  himself,  there 
were  as  good  fish  in  the  sea  as  had  ever  been  taken  out 
of  it,  arid,  business  being  business,  he  had  no  intention  of 
letting  anything  she  said  interfere  with  his  plans.  If  she 
chose  to  take  an  unpractical  view  of  things,  that  was 
her  lookout ;  such  sentiments  as  she  had  expressed,  be- 
sides being  unjust,  were  no  good  in  an  everyday  world. 
Still  it  was  all  very  disheartening,  and  he  could  not 
rid  his  mind  of  the  image  of  the  girl  standing  there, 
resolute,  her  eyes  unwavering,  but  brimming  with  un- 
fallen  tears. 

Patrick  harnessed  the  horse,  cursing  the  straps,  to  the 
buckling  of  which  he  was  unaccustomed,  in  bad  humour 
with  himself  and  the  world,  but  now  and  then  his  hand 
touched  the  lump  caused  by  the  roll  of  bills  in  his  pocket, 
and  the  undoubted  presence  of  the  money  sent  a  little 
financial  electric  thrill  through  him  that  more  and  more 
began  to  compensate  for  the  disadvantages  that  had  fol- 
lowed its  getting. 

He  sprang  into  the  light  waggon  and  drove  away.  It 
90 


"  Buy  'em  to  sell  again  "  91 

would  have  served  everybody  right  if  he  simply  had 
kept  on  to  the  south  until  he  crossed  the  state  line  into 
Ohio,  letting  them  whistle  for  their  money ;  but,  being  an 
honest  man,  he  would  adhere  rigidly  to  his  bargain.  He 
would  pay  the  money  to  the  voters  and  be  done  with  it; 
then  he  would  buy  horse  and  waggon  as  agreed,  shake  the 
dust  of  Michigan  from  the  wheels  and  peddle  his  way 
to  New  York.  Meditating  thus,  he  jogged  slowly  along 
the  dusty  road  until  he  heard  coming  up  rapidly  behind 
him  the  gentle  purr  of  a  buggy.  Looking  over  his  shoul- 
der he  saw  a  natty  turn-out,  driven  by  a  well-dressed  man. 
The  sun  glistened  on  the  polished  black  box  of  the  buggy 
as  if  it  shone  on  glass,  and  the  sand  poured  from  the 
sparkling  wheels  as  if  it  were  water  from  the  paddles  of 
a  steamer.  The  spokes  glittered  in  the  sunlight  like  a 
revolving  firework.  The  cover  of  the  buggy  was  laid  flat 
aft,  and  a  white  net  to  keep  off  the  flies  covered  the 
spirited,  speedy  horse.  The  whole  combination  was  in 
striking  contrast  to  the  dilapidated  belongings  of  Maguire, 
who  turned  to  the  side  of  the  road  to  let  the  more  rapid 
conveyance  pass  him,  as  was  the  courteous  custom.  The 
oncomer,  howevert  did  not  pass,  but  casting  a  sharp 
glance  at  the  man  in  the  light  waggon  pulled  up  sharply. 

"  Your  name  Maguire  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  That's  what  they  call  me." 

"  I've  been  looking  for  you  this  some  time  back." 

"  Yes  ?  Well,  I  ain't  very  hard  to  find.  Always  at 
the  office  during  business  hours." 

"Where's  your  office?" 

"  In  this  here  waggon." 

The  stranger  laughed.  He  was  a  smooth-faced, 
shrewd-looking  man,  whose  age  it  was  impossible  to 
guess  by  looking  at  his  keen  face. 

"  You're  taking  quite  an  interest  in  this  ditch  contest, 
I'm  told." 

"  Oh,  so  so.  Just  enough  to  make  things  a  bit  lively,  you 
know." 

"  So  I  hear.    What  are  you  going  to  make  out  of  it  ?  " 

"  Well,  now,  stranger,"  drawled  Maguire,  throwing  a 
leg  over  the  edge  of  the  seat,  "  I've  been  expecting  that 


92  The  Victors 

question,  and  to  speak  right  down  friendly  with  you,  not 
to  have  the  secret  go  any  further,  I'm  just  a  leetle  tired  of 
it.  See?" 

"  Been  asked  it  several  times,  eh  ?  \Yell,  I  don't 
wonder.  You're  a  stranger  here,  I  understand." 

"  I  was  a  stranger,  but  I  guess  there  ain't  anyone  better 
known  in  the  district  than  me  to-day,  and  they'll  know 
still  more  of  me  to-morrow." 

"  That  so  ?  Well,  to  come  back  to  the  question  you 
don't  like,  what  do  you  expect  to  make  out  of  this?  " 

"  I  expect  to  make  you  folks  sick,  for  one  thing,"  said 
Maguire  serenely. 

"  Why  do  you  say  '  you  folks  '  ?  I  haven't  got  anything 
to  do  with  it." 

"You  wouldn't  be  here  chinning  me  if  you  hadn't." 

"  I'm  not  a  voter  in  this  section." 

"  I  dare  say ;  neither  am  I,  yet  I've  got  this  thing  cop- 
pered all  the  samey." 

"  I'm  not  so  sure  of  that." 

"  That's  why  I'm  telling  you." 
.     "  I'm  not  so  sure  of  it  even  after  you  tell  me." 
(     "  All  right,  then,  drive  on.     You'll  be  sure  of  it  to- 
morrow night.     Good-bye ;  so  long." 

"  Oh,  there's  no  hurry.  I'd  like  to  have  a  little  talk  with 
you.  Let's  drive  down  the  road  to  the  woods,  where 
there's  some  shade.  It's  going  to  be  another  powerful 
hot  day." 

"  I  don't  know  as  there's  much  use  us  having  a  talk, 
but  I  can  spend  the  time  if  you  can.  You  drive  on  and 
I'll  get  there  sooner  or  later.  My  horse  is  Kentucky 
blood,  as  you  can  see,  but  it's  rather  discouraged  this 
while  back,  knowing  what  concerned  fools  there  are  on 
the  other  side  of  this  here  voting  business." 

The  man  in  the  buggy  made  no  reply,  but  drove  rapidly 
to  the  shade  of  the  forest,  Maguire  following  him  more 
•leisurely.  Once  together-  under  the  grateful  .shadow  of 
the  trees  it  seemed  as  if  they  two  were  alone  in  the  world. 
The  hot  air  quivered  above  the  long,  straight  white  road, 
and  even  the  birds  in  the  shadow  were  silent  because  of 
the  increasing  heat.  From  the  distance  came  to  their 


"  Buy  'em  to  sell  again  "  93 

ears  the  subdued,  incessant  chatter  of  a  reaping  machine 
in  the  fields,  and  now  and  then  the  clear  whet-whet  of  a 
blade  being  sharpened  by  some  farmer  who  was  t  still 
using  the  ancient  cradle  for  swinging  down  his  standing 
grain. 

"  Now,  to  come  back  to  first  principles,  what  do  you 
expect  to  make  in  this  here  campaign?  I  know  this  part 
of  the  country  probably  better  than  you  do,  and  I'm  will- 
ing to  bet  a  dollar  there  isn't  much  money  in  it." 

•"No?     That's  a  pretty  nice  rig  you've  got.     Do  you 
own  it?  " 

"  Yes.  It  doesn't  look  like  a  livery  stable  get-up,  does 
it?" 

"  No.  That's  why  I  thought  it  was  yours.  You  seem 
to  be  able  to  pick  up  a  little  something  in  this  locality." 

"  Oh,  I  manage  to  make  a  living ;  yes." 

"  I'm  in  exactly  the  same  business,"  said  Maguire,  nod- 
ding confidentially. 

"  Well,  that's  what  I  don't  Understand.  How  are  you 
going  to  make  a  living  on  this  tack?  I  know  these  men, 
and  they  are  as  close-fisted  as  the  old  Harry.  They  tell 
me  that  you're  doing  all  this  for  nothing,  and  that 
they've  got  the  thing  fixed  so  that  you  can't  make  a  cent 
unless  you  steal  it  from  old  Slade,  and  I'm  just  naturally 
interested  to  know  how  you're  going  to  work  it.  I 
thought  perhaps  you  could  give  me  some  valuable 
pointers." 

"  So  I  can,  but  as  it  happens  this  isn't  my  day  I'm  giv- 
ing things  away.  Call  round  after  the  polling,  and  if  you 
don't  see  what  you  want  ask  for  it.  No  trouble  to  show 
goods.  Satisfaction  guaranteed  or  money  refunded. 
Say,  stranger,  what  are  you  driving  at?  Do  you  think 
there's  anything  to  be  made  out  of  me  by  beating  'round 
the  bush?  If  you  do,  you're  fooling  away  your  time. 
Look  in  my  eye  and  tell  me  if  you  see  any  green  there. 
You've  asked  me  a  whole  lot  of  questions,  and  I've  an- 
swered them  like  a  gentleman.  Now,  let  me  ask  you  one. 
What's  your  game?  " 

The  man  in  the  buggy  gazed  intently  at  the  other  for  a 
few  seconds  before  he  replied.  Then  he  said  quietly : 


94  The  Victors 

"  I'm  a  contractor.  I've  got  this  ditch  contract  secured, 
if  it  goes  through,  and  there's  some  little  money  to  be 
made  on  the  deal,  although  not  any  too  much." 

"  I  see.  Then,  why  in  thunder  didn't  you  look  after 
your  fences  a  little  better  before  this  time  of  day  ?  " 

"  Well,  to  tell  the  truth,  I  thought  we  had  a  sure 
thing,  and  so  we  had,  if  Maguire  hadn't  happened  along. 
If  I'd  had  a  week's  warning  I  could  have  knocked  you 
sky  high.  I  can  do  it  yet,  but  being  a  contractor  and 
having  no  vote  in  this  district,  I  thought  it  would  look 
better  if  I  kept  out  of  it.  That's  why  I  come  to  you." 

"  Could  a-knocked  me  sky  high,  could  you  ?  I  wish 
you'd  come  in  a  little  sooner ;  we'd  a-had  some  fun.  I 
tell  you  what  it  is,  contractor ;  it  would  cost  you  a 
thousand  dollars  to  beat  me  now." 

"  Shucks,  you  don't  know  what  you're  talking  about. 
But  I  don't  want  to  beat  you,  I  want  to  make  terms  with 
you.  That's  why  I'm  here,  and  that's  why  I  ask  you  what 
you  expect  to  make  against  me." 

"  You  always  say,  '  expect  to  make.'  Now,  that's 
where  you're  on  the  wrong  tack.  I  don't  expect  to  make  ; 
I've  made.  Look  at  that.  That's  a  roll  of  ten-dollar  bills, 
and  there's  a  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  in  that  wad. 
Here's  another  with  not  so  much  in  it.  That's  going  to 
the  free  and  independents,  where  it  will  do  the  most  good, 
but  not  the  most  good  to  a  contractor.  This  other  pocket 
jingles,  but  it's  with  silver,  so  we  won't  count  that.  All 
this  boodle  was  in  the  possession  of  old  Slade  this  morn- 
ing; it's  in  my  pocket  now.  Doing  this  thing  for  noth- 
ing? What's  your  opinion." 

"  I  was  told  they  only  raised  sixty  or  seventy  dollars  at 
the  meeting." 

"At  the  meeting!"  cried  Maguire,  contemptuously, 
stuffing  the  bills  he  had  exhibited  into  his  pocket  again, 
taking  care  that  their  small  denominations  were  not  visi- 
ble to  the  keen  eyes  of  his  opponent.  "  Yes,  there  wa'n't 
much  more  than  that  raised  at  the  meeting;  but  I've  been 
round  collecting  ever  since  and  have  scared  these  people 
with  the  ten-years'  taxation  that's  ahead  of  them,  so  they 
gave  down.  Oh,  you  bet,  there's  a  lot  of  money  to  be 
raised  round  here  if  you  go  the  right  way  about  it." 


"  Buy  'em  to  sell  again  "  95 

"  Still,  even  if  you  spend  all  that  c"sh  it  would  only 
take  a  couple  of  hundred  dollars  to  beat  you." 

"  Don't  you  make  any  mistake.  You  couldn't  do  it 
with  a  thousand,  and  I'd  just  like  to  see  you  try.  Why, 
I'd  raise  the  country.  I'd  say,  '  Here's  this  contractor  a- 
jumping  in,  spending  a  dollar  to  loot  a  hundred  out  of 
you.'  Lord,  it  would  be  too  dead  easy  to  beat  you !  But 
I  guess  you're  no  such  fool  as  to  try  it  on,  for  you 
know  it's  always  easier  to  buy  one  man  than  twenty,  and 
cheaper,  too.  You  said  you  wanted  to  make  terms. 
Well,  you've  left  it  a  little  late,  but  still  you're  in  time. 
If  you've  got  any  proposition  to  shove  at  me  I'll  listen  to 
it.  That's  what  I'm  here  for." 

"  Can  you  clear  a  hundred  dollars  ?  " 

"  Yes,  and  more." 

"  Well,  you  can't  do  better  than  a  hundred  and  fifty. 
Now,  I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do  with  you.  I'll  bet  you 
two  hundred  against  your  hundred  and  fifty  that  this 
ditch  is  lost.  If  the  polling  goes  for  the  ditch  you 
pocket  two  hundred  dollars  and  get  back  the  money 
you  staked." 

"  I'm  not  a  betting  man.  'Tain't  moral.  No,  sir.  In 
God  we  trust ;  all  others  cash.  I  ain't  taking  no  risks,  and 
I  ain't  doing  no  betting,  being  contrary  to  the  way  I  was 
raised ;  a  hundred  and  fifty  in  the  pocket's  better'n  two 
hundred  in  an  umpire's  hands,  with  the  hundred  and 
fifty  risked  as  well.  That  bluff  won't  work." 

"  There  isn't  any  bluff  about  it.  If  you  act  square  you 
get  your  money;  if  you  don't  you  wont.  Nothing  could 
be  fairer." 

Maguire,  with  a  deep  si  ,h,  gathered  up  the  reins. 

"Now,  can  there?"  persisted  the  man,  evidently  get- 
ting a  little  anxious  at  the  other's  threatened  withdrawal. 

"  O,  that's  too  dead  easy.  You  tie  up  my  money  till  the 
voting's  over ;  then  you  squeal  and  say  betting's  agin  some 
state  law,  and  where  am  I  ?  I  do  hate  to  be  taken  for  a 
fool.  You'll  dig  that  ditch  the  way  the  old  woman  kept 
tavern.  Good-day." 

"  Hold  on.  No  good  of  getting  mad  about  it.  I've 
made  a  proposition ;  if  it  don't  suit  you,  then  make  an- 


96  The  Victors 

other.  I'm  willing  to  do  anything  fair,  as  long's  my  in- 
terests are  protected." 

"  How  you  talk.  Interests  protected !  You  can't  have 
interests  protected  in  a  case  like  this.  You  either  trust  me 
or  you  don't ;  I  didn't  go  to  you ;  you  came  to  me.  All 
right;  I'm  a  square  man,  and  I  do  what  I  say.  If  you 
don't  know  enough  about  a  man  to  see  that,  after  talking 
with  him  an  hour,  then  put  the  bud  on  your  horse  and  go 
home.  No  use  in  wasting  my  time." 

"  Well,  then,  make  a  proposal." 

"  All  right,  entirely  on  your  account  and  to  save  hard 
feelings,  I  will.  I'll  trust  you  fifty  dollars.  You  pay  me 
a  hundred  and  fifty  cash  down  right  here,  and  I'll  call 
round  at  your  place  day  after  to-morrow  and  get  the 
other  fifty." 

"  You  don't  expect  that  I  travel  round  with  that  much 
money  on  me  ?  " 

"  If  you  don't,  then  you've  lost  your  darned  old 
ditch,  that's  all." 

"  What  security  have  I  that  you  won't  take  the  money 
and  still  work  against  me?  " 

"  None  at  all." 

"  Oh,  that's  not  good  enough." 

"  'Nuf  sed.     You  refuse,  then  ?  " 

"  No  sane  man  could  do  anything  else  but  refuse  such 
an  offer  from  an  entire  stranger." 

"  I  expected  you  to  refuse,  and  that's  why  I  made  the 
offer.  Men  who  get  big  contracts  are  the  men  who  take 
just  such  big  chances.  You  ain't  no  contractor;  you're 
some  contractor's  clerk.  You  go  back  home,  sonny,  and 
tell  your  boss  to  come  and  see  me,  then,  we'll  fix  this 
thing  up  in  ten  minutes." 

"  I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do.  I'll  give  you  a  hundred 
dollars  down,,  and  you  come  for  the  other  hundred  day 
after  to-morrow." 

"  No;  you  just  think  you're  going  to  do  that.  You're 
dreaming  on  account  of  the  hot  weather.  Now,  I'll  tell 
you  what  you'll  do,  and  you'll  do  it  within  the  next  ten 
minutes  or  not  at  all.  You'll  pay  me  plump  down  two 
hundred  dollars,  and  then  you'll  get  your  ditch  and  no 


"  His  dishonesty  appears  "  97 

questions  asked.  There's  two  men  coming-  along  the 
road,  and  they'll  be  here  in  less  than  hah  an  hour.  Now 
when  they  get  on  the  top  of  the  next  rise  you'll  have 
taken  or  refused  my  offer,  and  you  won't  get  another." 

"  But  you  made  me  a  better  offer  a  few  minutes  ago.", 

'*  Yes,  and  you  didn't  have  the  sense  to  take  it,  and 
durn  me  if  I  believe  you're  going  to  have  the  sense  to 
take  this  one,  which  is  exactly  the  same  offer  if  you  only 
knew  it.  I  haven't  raised  the  price  a  cent,  for  I'd  a-had 
the  fifty  dollars  that  makes  up  the  two  hundred  within 
forty-eight  hours,  or  thereabouts." 

"  You're  sure  I  would  have  paid  it,  then  ?  " 

"  Certain.  I  can  see  in  a  minute  you're  square,  and 
the  only  thing  that  eats  me  is  that  you  haven't  the  gump- 
tion to  see  that  I  am." 

"  Then,  if  you  trust  me  as  you  say,  why  do  you  object 
to  wait  a  couple  of  days  for  your  money  ?  " 

"  Simply  because  this  is  an  uncertain  world.  That 
horse  may  throw  you  out  and  break  your  neck  on  the 
way  home,  and  then  I  couldn't  collect.  There's  no  such 
danger  from  my  horse.  But  you  take  such  a  long  time 
about  a  deal  that  you  make  me  tired,  and  more  than  that 
you  make  me  want  to  go  ri^ht  on  with  this  contest  and 
bust  you  wide  open  so  that  you'll  have  more  sense  next 
time  you  meet  a  gentleman  and  don't  know  it.  I'd  only 
lost  fifty  dollars  by  doing  it,  and  I'd  have  more  than  the 
worth  of  that  in  fun.  I  don't  even  know  your  name,  and 
don't  want  to ;  but  I'd  shout,  mad  clear  through,  to  the 
free  and  independents  that  some  man  with  a  bay  horse 
that  had  a  white  net  over  it,  and  a  new  covered  buggy 
with  the  cover  down,  slick  as  a  whistle,  a  smooth-faced 
man,  who  looked  as  if  he  was  up  to  snuff  and  said  he  was 
a  contractor,  wanted  to  buy  me  for  two  hundred  dollars  so 
that  he  would  have  a  free  swing  to  make  thousands  out 
of  the  poor  unfortunate  taxpayer.  I'll  bet  you  they 
wouldn't  be  long  in  telling1  me  the  name  of  that  man, 
and  they'd  believe  all  I  said,  too." 

"  I  doubt  if  they  would  believe  you  refused  the  two 
hundred.  If  I  take  this  offer,  what  are  you  going  to  do 
with  that  cash  you  have  in  your  pocket  ? " 


98  The  Victors 

"  I'll  turn  right  round  and  give  it  back  to  old  Slade, 
telling  him  my  conscience  will  not  allow  me  to  corrupt 
the  free  and  independent  voters.  He  s  scared  already  of 
the  bribery  act ;  that's  how  I  got  the  money  out  of  him, 
and  I'll  make  him  scareder  by  saying  the  other  side  is 
on  the  lookout  to  get  some  one  in  state's  prison  on  this 
deal.  Say,  them  two  men's  disappeared  down  the  hol- 
low, and  they  will  be  in  sight  in  another  minute  or  two." 

"  How  about  the  voters  you've  bargained  with  ?  " 

"  Oh,  them!  That's  dead  easy.  I'll  go  to  each  of  them 
and  tell  'em  it  was  wrong  of  them  to  say  they  would  take 
money,  and  that  they're  morally  bound  to  vote  against 
the  ditch  anyhow,  without  payment." 

"Against  the  ditch?" 

"  Cert.  That'll  make  'em  so  durn  mad,  with  losing  the 
money  and  all,  that  they'll  vote  for  it,  just  to  throw  me 
down.  Nothing  makes  a  man  so  fighting  mad  as  to  do  the 
superior  act  with  him  and  let  on  your  conscience  is  a 
trifle  better'n  his'n ;  then  if  you  go  on  a-pointing  out  to 
him  the  right  path  and  imploring  him  to  foller  it,  like  a 
preacher  at  a  revival  meeting,  why  he'll  knock  you  down 
if  he  dare,  or  vote  agin  you  if  you're  bigger'n  him." 

"  Well,  I  guess  there's  something  in  that,"  remarked 
the  contractor,  with  a  smile.  "  I'll  accept  your  offer, 
Maguire,  and  I'll  trust  you."  Saying  this  he  took  out  a 
broad  pocketbook  from  inside  his  coat,  slipped  an  elastic 
band  from  it,  displaying  a  flat  heap  of  greenbacks,  then 
counted  the  requisite  number  with  care,  slipping  each 
bill  between  thumb  and  finger.  He  handed  the  result  to 
Maguire,  who  also  counted  it  over,  found  it  correct, 
doubled  it  up  and  put  it  into  a  pocket  as  nonchalantly 
as  if  he  completed  such  a  transaction  several  times  a 
day. 

The  man  in  the  buggy  gathered  up  his  reins  slowly,  as 
if  reluctant  to  go,  being  probably  in  some  doubt  regard- 
ing the  wisdom  of  the  loose  and  costly  bargain  he  had 
made. 

"  I  suppose  you'll  wait  in  the  neighbourhood  till  after 
the  polling?  " 

"  No,  I  don't  think  so,     I've  got  no  more  interest  in 


"  Buy  'em  to  sell  again  "  99 

the  affair,  and  have  lost  enough  time  on  it  already.  I'm 
going  east." 

"  What's  your  business  ?  " 

"  I'm  doing  a  little  peddling  at  present,  but  I  don't 
expect  to  keep  at  that  long.  Not  enough  money  in  it." 

"  Better  call  round  and  see  me  at  Ypsilanti.  I  could 
perhaps  put  you  on  something  that  would  be  worth 
while." 

"  I  guess  New  York's  got  more  loose  cash  lying  round 
than  Ypsilanti." 

"  Shouldn't  wonder.  Yet  it  might  be  harder  to  pick 
up." 

"  That's  what  I  want  to  find  out." 

"  Well,  good-bye." 

"  So  long.     See  you  later,  maybe." 

The  man  did  not  need  to  touch  his  horse  with  the  whip ; 
a  slight  chirrup,  and  the  animal  was  off  like  a  flash,  the 
bright  wheels  twinkling  in  and  out  the  bars  of  sunlight 
that  crossed  the  road  falling  through  the  interstices  of  the 
forest,  and  in  a  very  short  time  there  was  merely  a  little 
cloud  of  dust  in  the  far  distance  to  indicate  the  passing 
of  the  speculator. 

Maguire  sat  complacently  where  he  was,  the  unaspiring 
horse  requiring  no  attention,  content  to  remain  uncom- 
plaining in  the  shade  as  long  as  his  master  was  willing. 
The  young  man  turned  his  head  in  the  opposite  direction 
and  watched  the  two  approaching,  whom  he  now  rec- 
ognised as  Ben  and  Jim,  tramping  wearily  together. 
He  had  seen  little  of  them  during  the  last  ten  days. 
They  had  adhered  loyally  to  their  compact,  and  now  the 
time  was  come  for  the  completing  of  the  bargain.  They 
had  quite  palpably  avoided  Maguire  since  the  morning 
they  made  terms  with  him  in  the  barnyard,  keeping  as 
much  as  possible  to  themselves  and  never  using  horse 
and  waggon  when  he  showed  the  slightest  inclination  of 
desiring  them.  He  resented  the  aloofness  on  their  part 
as  indicating  a  belief  in  their  own  superiority  over  him, 
but  he  gave  no  hint  of  this  feeling,  speaking  to  them  with 
the  smoothness  of  oil  during  their  infrequent  and  chance 
meetings.  His  umbrage  increased  as  he  watched  them 


ioo  The  Victors 

pause  on  seeing  what  was  ahead  of  them,  consult  to- 
gether for  a  moment,  then,  with  the  air  of  making  the 
best  of  an  unavoidable  encounter,  come  slowly  on.  He 
awaited  them  with  equanimity,  resolved  on  that  form 
of  revenge  which  consists  of  burning  the  enemy's  head 
with  the  hot  coals  of  remorse. 


CHAPTER    VIII 

"  I    AND    MY    PARTNER " 

"  WELL,  boys,  I'm  mighty  glad  to  see  you.  Say,  isn't  it 
hot!  The  truth  is  I've  been  waiting  here  in  the  shade 
trying  to  make  up  my  mind  on  a  little  financial  matter, 
and  I  don't  seem  to  have  any  luck ;  for  I  guess,  as  I  have 
told  you  before,  I  belong  to  the  gutter,  and  whether  any 
one  shoves  me  back  there  or  not  I'm  just  like  the  hog 
that  'ud  sooner  wallow  than  climb  out  on  the  hard  road. 
But  three  heads  is  better'n  one,  and  so  when  I  saw  it  was 
you  I  hung  on  till  you  came." 

"  What's  the  trouble  ?  "  asked  Ben,  sitting  down  with 
his  companion  in  the  shade  of  a  great  beech  tree,  whose 
level,  thickly  leaved  branches  extended  far  across  the  rail 
fence  that  formed  the  road  boundary  of  the  wood.  "  Isn't 
the  polling  going  your  way  to-morrow  ?  " 

"  Well,  that's  just  the  point,"  returned  Patrick,  spring- 
ing down  and  seating  himself  near  them,  leaving  the 
horse  to  his  own  devices.  "  That's  just  the  point.  If  you 
ask  me,  I  say  I  dunno.  I  guess  it  is,  if  I  care  to  make  it, 
but  that's  what  I'd  like  to  have  a  Iitt1e  advice  about.  You 
see,  you  fellows  have  given  me  the  other  side  of  the  road 
ever  since  I  took  on  this  business,  and  so  I  don't  just 
know  who  to  talk  to  when  I  get  in  a  corner." 

"  We've  done  what  we  agreed  to,"  commented  Jim. 

"  Certainly,  and  I'm  ever  so  much  obliged.  I'm  not 
making  any  complaint.  Still,  when  all's  said  and  done,  a 
•  fellow  would  sometimes  like  a  friendly  word  chucked  in 
now  and  then,  and  perhaps  it  wouldn't  hurt  anybody." 

"  I  believe  in  everybody  minding  his  own  business,'' 
added  Jim  decisively.  "  You  are  playing  your  game  and 
we  have  no  right  to  look  over  your  hand." 

"  Are  you  just  dead  sure  of  that?    I'm  not.    Seems  to 


102  The  Victors 

me  that  what  a  fellow-creature  does  is  everybody's  busi- 
ness, more  or  less,  for  a  man  can't  do  most  anything  that 
doesn't  have  some  effect  on  other  people.'' 

"  You're  right,"  cried  the  conscientious  Ben.  "  How 
can  we  help  you  more  than  we've  done?  " 

"  Well,  I'm  not  saying  you  can.  I'm  merely  talking 
about  this  wouldn't-touch-you-with-a-ten-foot-pole  kind 
of  a  way  you  look  at  me.  You  don't  seem  to  say  to  your- 
selves, '  We've  had  a  good  education,  and  this  fellow 
hasn't ;  perhaps  there's  some  things  he  don't  know  that 
we  might  give  him  a  pointer  on.'  See  what  I  mean? 
Now,  here  am  I.  I  asked  you  fellows  to  stand  by  me  for 
a  week  or  two,  and  you've  done  it,  right  down  to  the 
ground,  and  no  mistake.  Well,  now  it  struck  me  like 
this,  what  right  have  I  to  interfere  with  those  two  fel- 
lows? They  didn't  want  to  wait,  yet  I  made  'em." 

"Oh,  if  that's  all  that's  bothering  you,"  said  Ben  frankly, 
"  it  doesn't  need  to  worry  you  a  moment  longer.  We  said 
we'd  stay,  and  we've  done  so.  I  don't  know  that  our 
staying  has  been  much  of  a  success,  but  it's  been  about  as 
big  a  success,  I  guess,  as  if  we'd  gone  on.  We've  made 
enough  to  pay  our  board,  and  that's  more  than  we  were 
doing  when  you  first  met  us,  so  you  haven't  anything  to 
fret  about  on  our  account." 

"  All  right,  boys,  you're  white  men,  as  I've  always  said, 
and  I  guess  I'm  a  nigger,  when  you  come  to  size  me  up. 
But  I'll  tell  you  now  what  was  worrying  me,  and  it's  about 
this  here  election.  But  before  we  go  on,  there's  one 
thing  I  would  like  to  clear  up,  although  perhaps  you 
won't  think  any  better  of  me  for  doing  it.  When  I  told 
you  I  had  only  seven  dollars  and  couldn't  buy  the  horse 
and  waggon,  I  lied.  You  see,  I  wanted  youse  to  stay, 
and  so  I  told  a  whopper." 

"  That  didn't  do  much  harm,"  said  Jim  with  a  cynical- 
laugh,  "  for  we  didn't  believe  you  anyhow." 

Ben  looked  reproachfully  at  his  partner.  Maguire'.s 
eyes  narrowed  down  to  slits,  and  his  face  reddened  with 
anger.  Still  here  was  a  lesson  unconsciously  given  that 
confirmed  his  own  ideas.  One  of  the  few  truthful  state- 
ments he  had  made  had  been  received  with  incredulity, 


"  I  and  my  partner  "  103 

so  the  vendible  nature  of  Truth  as  a  mercantile  commodity 
was  more  than  ever  in  doubt. 

"  I  don't  think  you  ought  to  say  that,"  put  in  Ben,  with 
some  emphasis.  "  Or,  at  least,  you  should  speak  merely 
for  yourself.  I  saw  no  reason  to  doubt  the  statement." 

"  Well,  you  see  a  reason  for  doubting  it  now,  Ben," 
cried  Jim,  impatiently.     "  A  man's  straight  or  he  isn't. ' 
If  he  hasn't  gone  straight  and  intends  to  reform,  he 
doesn't  say  much  about  what  he's  done,  but  he  reforms, 
and  there  it  ends." 

"  It  all  depends  on  the  man,  Jim.  Because  one  man 
,  does  a  thing  one  way,  that's  not  saying  another  man  may 
not  do  it  another  way.  There's  the  road  to  Ypsilanti, 
straight  ahead,  but  I've  no  doubt  you  could  reach  the 
place  if  you  cut  through  the  fields.  Go  ahead,  Maguire ; 
what  were  you  about  to  say  ?  " 

Maguire  sighed  deeply  and  continued  in  a  doleful 
voice. 

"  Oh,  I  suppose  Jim's  right  as  a  genn'l  thing.  I  guess 
the  average  human  man's  a  pretty  tough  critter  when  you 
size  'em  up  by  and  large.  And  I  guess,  too,  I'm  about 
the  worst  of  the  lot.  Perhaps  if  I'd  a-been  brought  up 
different  I'd  a.-been  different,  but  I  dunno.  We  can't 
always  sometimes  most  genn'ly  tell,  and  it  makes  it  worse 
for  me  to  go  on,  because  the  next  thing  in  my  way  is  an- 
other lie,  though  very  likely  Jim  didn't  believe  it  at  the 
time." 

"  Oh,  go  on,  go  on !  "  shouted  Jim ;  "  let's  have  'em  all. 
If  it  comes  to  that  I  suppose  I  could  match  lie  for  lie 
with  you,  but  I'm  not  bragging  about  them.  I'm  not 
pretending  to  be  any  better  than  the  next  man,  so  in 
heaven's  name  go  on  and  don't  let  us  have  too  much  talk 
about  it,  that's  all." 

"  Now,  Jim,  you're  hard  on  me,  that's  what  you  are, 
right  down  hard  on  me,  still  I've  no  call  to  complain.  I 
deserve  it  all,  and  more.  Well,  when  I  told  you  I  didn't 
intend  to  make  anything  on  this  deal,  I  was  off  again : 
for  I  did,  and  that's  what  I  went  into  it  for." 

"  You're  mixing  things  up,  Pat,  which  shows  again 
that  a  liar  should  have  a  good  memory.  You  didn't  tell 


IO4  The  Victors 

us  that,  and  if  you  had  we  wouldn't  have  believed  you. 
You  said  you  were  going  to  make  something  and  offered 
to  share  it,  which  offer  we  refused." 

"  Good  enough;  I'm  not  kicking.  I  told  it  to  so  many 
fellows  that  I  thought  I  told  it  to  you,  too.  Anyhow, 
here's  how  the  land  lies,  and  this  is  what  is  biting  me. 
They  raised  fifty-seven  dollars  at  the  meeting  to  buy 
enough  votes  to  knock  out  the  ditch.  I've  got  fifty-five 
of  that  fifty-seven  right  here  in  my  pocket,  and  I've  got 
eleven  votes  as  soon  as  I  pay  a  dollar  apiece  for  them. 
Then  I  make  forty-four  dollars  on  the  shuffle.  That's  what 
I  intended  to  do  from  the  first.  When  I  was  thinking  hard 
how  I  was  going  to  get  hold  of  this  money,  I  didn't  think 
hard  about  whether  the  turn-over  was  honest  or  not.  A 
month  ago  I  wouldn't  have  had  any  doubts.  Since  then 
I've  met  you  and  some  other  white  folks,  so  I  drove  right 
here  into  the  shade  and  began  to  think  about  it.  I've 
worked  hard  for  these  people,  right  in  their  busiest  time, 
when  they  couldn't  spare  a  day,  and  I  couldn't  have 
worked  harder  if  I  had  been  out  in  the  fields  with  them. 
If  I  had  been  in  the  fields  I  would  have  earned  and  been 
paid  my  money.  As  it  is  I  have  no  way  of  getting  paid 
for  what  I've  done  except  by  bribing  these  people  and 
breaking  the  law,  so  I'm  in  a  box." 

"  It's  a  box  very  easy  to  get  out  of,  and  it  shouldn't 
have  taken  you  long  to  make  up  your  mind,  either,"  said 
Jim. 

"  Oh,  yes ;  that's  all  right,  Jim.  Of  course,  if  you  took 
your  shirt  off  we'd  find  a  nice  pair  of  sweet  white  wings 
hanging  from  your  shoulder-blades,  neatly  folded  so  as 
not  to  bulge  when  you  had  your  clothes  on ;  but,  as  I  told 
you,  there  ain't  no  white  wings  on  me." 

"  No,  nor  flies,  either." 

"  Maguire,"  interrupted  Ben  solemnly.  "Jim  doesn't 
mean  to  be  as  harsh  as  his  words  sound,  and  he's  right 
when  he  says  that  it  shouldn't  have  taken  long  to  make  up 
a  man's  mind  on  the  point  in  question.  It  is  a  pity  that 
you  said  you  did  not  want  anything  for  your  work,  for  the 
laborer  is  worthy  of  his  hire ;  but,  having  said  so,  you 
must  stick  to  your  word.  If  you  do  the  right  thing,  and 


"  I  and  my  partner  "  105 

give  this  money  back  to  those  who  subscribed  it,  you  will 
be  amply  rewarded  for  your  present  loss." 

"  You  bet  he  will,"  said  Jim,  throwing  himself  back 
against  the  rail  fence  and  laughing  loudly.  Maguire 
darted  one  malignant  glance  at  him,  and  nervously 
clenched  his  fist,  then  recovered  himself  and  assumed  the 
seraphic  expression  with  which  he  had  listened  to  Ben's 
solemn  assurances.  There  was  more  of  chagrin  than  re- 
sentment on  Ben's  countenance  at  the  callous  behaviour 
of  his  friend.  He  turned  sorrowfully  to  the  man  of  the 
stricken  conscience  and  saw  nothing  suspicious  in  his 
face. 

"  You  must  give  the  money  back,"  he  said  kindly,  but 
decisively. 

"  I'll  do  it,  Ben,"  cried  Maguire,  fervently,  "  but  you 
see  the  fix  I'm  in,  although  probably  Jim  doesn't.  These 
men  have  trusted  me,  and  if  I  throw  them  down  now  it's 
too  late  for  them  to  do  anything,  and  the  voting  will  go 
against  them.  That's  the  point  that  worries  me." 

"What's  your  decision  on  that,  umpire?"  cried  Jim, 
reclining  with  his  clasped  hands  behind  his  head.  "  You 
must  have  some  compassion  on  the  deluded  farmers. 
Maguire's  conscience  took  so  darned  long  to  get  into 
working  order  that  you  must  confess  it's  pretty  rough  on 
them  to  have  it  begin  skipping  round  the  very  day  before 
the  polling.  It  would  have  been  a  mighty  sight  more 
complimentary  to  us  and  the  other  white  mefa  who  influ- 
enced Maguire  for  good,  if  our  example  had  bitten,  say, 
a  week  sooner;  then  the  anti-ditchers  would  have  had 
something  of  a  show." 

"  They  are  not  worth  a  moment's  consideration,"  was 
the  instant  decision  of  the  umpire.  "  They  would  have 
been  compounding  a  felony,  if  this  had  gone  on ;  so  Mr. 
Maguire's  honest  determination,  which  I  sincerely  hope 
he'll  stick  to,  will  be  actually  doing  them  the  greatest 
favour  it  is  possible  for  him  to  bestow  on  them.  In  fact, 
if  you  take  my  advice,  you  will  not  pay  back  the  money 
till  to-morrow  night,  when  it  will  be  too  late  for  anv- 
one  to  put  it  to  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  intended." 

"  Right  you  are,  Ben ;  I'll  do  it  just  as  you  say.     Now 


106  The  Victors 

you  see  what  it  is  to  have  a  clear-headed  friend  to  help 
you  steer  a  straight  course.  The  minute  you  speak,  why 
the  thing  is  as  plain  as  a  stump  fence,  and  now  I  don't 
wonder  at  Jim  saying  it  took  a  long  while  to  get  my  con- 
science in  working  order.  Of  course,  it  must  seem 
so  to  youse,  but  I  was  brought  up  different.  So,  boys, 
that's  settled  and  out  of  the  way.  Now,  about  this  here 
rig.  I  said  I'd  give  you  twenty-five  dollars  for  it.  That 
'ud  be  cheating  you.  It's  worth  thirty,  and  I'll  give 
thirty." 

"  Oh  no.  Fair's  fair.  Twenty-five  dollars  it  is,  if  you 
say  so ;  but  we  don't  want  to  hold  you  to  a  bargain  made 
in  a  hurry,  unless  you  want  to  be  held." 

"  I've  got  to  have  an  outfit  of  this  sort,  if  I'm  going  to 
peddle  clear  through  to  New  York,  and  I  couldn't  get 
one  from  the  farmers  round  here  at  anything  like  the 
price,  even  though  the  horse  wasn't  any  better.  So  it's 
a  go  at  thirty.  Your  advice  was  cheap  at  five  dollars." 

Jim  rose  lazily,  took  the  pack  that  he  had  been  carrying 
on  his  shoulders  and  threw  it  into  the  waggon. 

"  As  it  is  going  to  be  a  deal,"  he  said,  "  there  goes  that 
accursed  knapsack.  If  the  soldiers  hate  to  carry  a 
shoulder  burden  as  badly  as  I  do,  I  pity  them.  Take  the 
thirty,  Ben ;  we'll  need  it." 

"  We'll  take  just  what  we  agreed  to  take.  Twenty- 
five's  the  figure." 

"  You  may  as  well  have  the  thirty,"  said  Maguire ;  but 
he  cqunted  out  twenty-five  dollars  and  handed  it  to  Ben, 
for  the  latter  shook  his  head  when  the  larger  amount 
was  mentioned. 

All  three  were  now  on  their  feet,  and  Maguire  held  out 
his  hand  in  a  friendly  manner,  a  manner  met  with  the 
utmost  cordiality  by  Ben,  and  with  cool  composure  by 
Jim. 

"  Well,  fellows,  I  suppose  I'll  see  you  to-night  at  the 
farm." 

"  I  don't  think  so.  We'll  go  back  there  right  away, 
pay  our  bill  and  light  out.  We've  had  about  enough  of 
this  part  of  the  country." 

"  Where  are  you  bound  for? '' 


"  I  and  my  partner  "  107 

"  I'm  not  just  sure  yet ;  depends  on  Jim.  I  want  to  get 
to  Chicago,  and  then  down  further  south  in  Illinois." 

"  Well,  then,  so  long.  If  we  don't  meet  again  in  this 
world  perhaps  we'll  see  each  other  in  Buffalo." 

With  this  brilliant  witticism,  Maguire  sprang  into  the 
waggon,  and  as  he  departed  waved  his  hand  affably  toward 
them.  The  young  men  sat  down  again  in  the  shade  as 
their  late  companion  drove  out  into  the  sunshine,  followed 
by  a  pillar  of  dust  that  rose  straight  up  behind  him  in  the 
still  air  throbbing  with  heat.  Jim  was  the  first  to  break 
the  silence,  for  the  retreating  wheels,  muffled  in  the  sand, 
made  no  noise. 

"  There  goes  as  thorough-paced  a  scoundrel  as  one 
would  meet  in  a  long  day's  journey." 

"  Jim,  Jim,  Jim,  Jim.  Judge  not  that  ye  be  not  judged. 
You  rather  frighten  me,  Jim,  with  your  harshness  toward 
anyone  you  take  a  dislike  to.  I  wonder  if  you'll  ever  turn 
on  me  like  that.  Why  should  he  want  to  curry  favour 
with  us?  We  can  neither  help  him  nor  hurt  him,  and  he 
kept  to  his  word  with  us,  quite  willing  to  do  better  than 
he  bargained  if  we  had  let  him." 

"  Why  ?  Oh,  I  don't  know.  Just  the  vanity  of  the  man. 
He  likes  to  play  on  his  fellows  as  some  people  like  to  play 
on  a  fiddle,  and  the  villain  has  a  talent  that  way.  Don't 
you  see  what's  happened?  The  other  side  has  bought 
him,  body  and  soul,  at  the  last  minute ;  he's  going  to  give 
the  money  back  anyhow,  because  he's  done  better,  and  so 
wants  to  do  the  grandstand  act  of  the  honest  man." 

"  I'd  far  rather  think  it  was  exactly  as  he  said  it  was." 

"  So  should  I,  but  I  don't  all  the  same.  Watch  his 
shifty  eye.  It's  always  giving  him  away,  in  spite  of  his 
smooth  talk." 

"  He  looked  me  as  straight  in  the  face  as  any  man 
could." 

"Oh,  I  dare  say.  Anybody  could  do  that,  Ben,  because 
they  can  see  straight  through  you,  but  he  can't  look  me 
in  the  eye.  I  suspect  there's  so  much  latent  scoundrelism 
in  me  that  he  fears  like  will  detect  like.  If  Maguire  knew 
when  he  was  well  off  he'd  settle  down  here  in  Michigan. 
He'll  be  hanged  ultimately  anywhere  else." 


io8  The  Victors 

"  Just  one  point,  Jim.  You  know  you  said  he  never 
v/ould  pay  the  twenty-five  dollars  for  our  belongings — 
that  he  never  had  the  remotest  intention  of  doing  so." 

"  Neither  would  he  if  he  hadn't  made  this  illicit  haul." 

"  Let  us  keep  to  the  question  without  any  '  ifs.'  You 
were  wrong  about  that,  as  has  been  proven  by  his  action 
just  now,  for  he  paid  up  without  any  hint  from  us, 
anxious  even  to  do  better  than  he  bargained.  Now  I  re- 
spectfully submit,  as  we  used  to  say  in  our  debating  so- 
ciety, that  one  suspicion  shown  to  be  utterly  groundless 
is  not  a  good  foundation  on  which  to  build  up  a  new  sus- 
picion." 

"  Right  you  are,  Ben.  Your  logic  has  not  deteriorated 
through  a  course  of  peddling.  I  shall  pursue  the  subject 
no  further,  but  I  still  claim  a  woman's  privilege  of  remain- 
ing of  the  same  opinion.  To  tell  the  truth,  I  am  not  in 
the  least  interested  in  Maguire's  career  so  long  as  Provi- 
dence keeps  me  out  of  the  influnce  of  it,  but  I  am  exceed- 
ingly anxious  about  the  careers  of  those  two  good  young 
men,  Benjamin  McAllister  and  James  B.  Monro.  We 
have  put  your  great  scheme  of  peddling  to  a  practical  test. 
I  reserve  judgment  on  the  result  and  ask  you  to  pro- 
nounce. What  is  the  verdict,  your  honour?  " 

"  The  verdict  must  be  failure." 

"  The  associate  judge  entirely  concurs  with  his  col- 
league." 

"  Mind,  I  don't  say  our  failure  invalidates  the  scheme. 
I  hold  as  I  always  did  that  if  we  could  organise  the  whole 
peddling  trade  of  the  country  on  one  grand  co-operative 
basis,  buying  directly  and  in  large  quantities  from  the 
manufacturers  and  consequently  at  rock  bottom  prices 
and  dealing  directly  with  the  consumer,  we  would  then 
inaugurate  an  immense  mutually  beneficial — 

"  Chuck  it,  Ben,  chuck  it.  Don't  flog  a  dead  horse,  in 
this  hot  weather,  too.  Sit  down,  Ben,  and  cool  off.'' 

The  other  had  risen  to  his  feet  and  pushed  off  his  hat, 
running  his  fingers  through  his  hair  until  it  stood  out 
from  his  head  like  the  brush  of  an  unkempt  broom.  His 
face  was  aglow  with  enthusiasm,  and  he  waved  his  arms 
about,  giving  gestures  emphatic  to  his  energetic  utter- 


"I  and  my  partner"  109 

ances.  The  calm  voice  of  his  friend  pulled  him  suddenly 
down  from  the  clouds,  and  he  stood  there,  motion  stricken 
from  his  limbs,  with  jaw  dropped,  a  statue  of  arrested 
intensity.  Monro  laughed. 

"  When  a  project's  abandoned,  drop  it.  Don't  waste 
further  vigour  on  it.  Apply  instead  high  pressure  to  the 
barber's  exclamation,  '  Next !  ' 

McAllister  opened  his  mouth  to  reply,  closed  it  again, 
and  paced  up  and  down  the  parched  sward,  touseling 
his  hair  as  he  went  along,  his  head  bent  in  thought. 
Monro  reclined  lazily  watching  him. 

"  You  like  to  throw  a  bucket  of  cold  water  over  a  per- 
son, don't  you  ?  "  Ben  said  at  last. 

"  I  wish  somebody  would  do  that  for  me  just  now. 
Say,  Ben,  let's  hunt  up  a  river  or  a  creek  and  go  in  swim- 
ming." 

The  other  paid  no  heed  to  the  suggestion. 

"  I'd  like  to  talk  freely  with  you,  but  I'm  rather  afraid. 
So  much  depends  on  it.  I'd  rather  believe  in  people 
than  not,  and  if  it  is  shown  that  this  belief  is  misplaced  in 
one  instance,  I  don't  want  that  to  keep  me  from  believing 
in  someone  else.  I  want  to  preserve  the  freshness  of  my 
soul.  I  want  to  guard  my  trust  in  man  as  well  as  my 
trust  in  Providence." 

"  Yes  ?    And  do  you  think  I  would  prevent  you  ?  " 

"  No.  I  don't  suppose  you  would,  but  I  think  we 
ought  to  start  square." 

"  Well,  the  first  practical  thing  is  to  define  our  objects. 
If  our  object  is  the  same,  then  we  may  jog  along  to- 
gether toward  that  object.  Mine's  material  success.  I 
want  to  accumulate  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  or 
thereabout  of  my  own,  honestly,  if  possible,  as  the  other 
fellow  said.  Now,  what's  your  object?" 

"  Mine !  Mine's  a  million,  with  the  power  that  ac- 
companies it." 

"  All  right.  There  you  are.  That's  along  the  same 
road  as  I  propose  to  jog,  only  a  little  further  on.  Now, 
what's  your  route?" 

"  The  first  thing  we  need  is  another  partner." 

"  I  don't  agree  with  you  there.    Two's  a  limited  com- 


no  The  Victors 

pany;  three's  none.  Furthermore,  if  your  mind's  hover- 
ing about  Patrick  Maguire,  I  give  you  notice  right  at 
once  that  I'm  out." 

"  I  wasn't  thinking  of  him." 

"  Who,  then  ?  " 

"  God." 

"  What !  " 

"  I  propose  to  take  God  into  partnership  with  us." 

"  I  suppose  you  mean  that  I  should  join  some  denomi- 
nation, make  profession  of  religion,  I  think  they  call  it." 

"  My  dear  Jimmy,  you  don't  understand  me  a  little  bit, 
and  that's  not  to  be  wondered  at,  because  I  haven't  ex- 
plained it  fully  to  you.  What  I  am  making  to  you  is  a 
cold  business  proposition ;  no  religion  in  it  all,  at  least 
none  from  your  end  of  the  partnership.  But  I  couldn't 
take  in  another  partner  without  your  consent,  for,  don't 
you  see,  when  it  came  to  a  vote  God  and  I  would  form 
the  majority  of  the  board  of  directors,  and  you  might  not 
like  to  have  things  carried  over  your  head  in  that  way. 
So  I  thought  I  would  speak  frankly  with  you  at  the 
start." 

All  the  indolence  left  Monro's  attitude.  He  sat  up  and 
regarded  his  friend  with  an  expression  of  anxiety  not 
unmixed  with  alarm.  With  anyone  else  than  McAllister 
this  kind  of  talk  might  have  been  taken  as  blasphemous 
jesting,  not  in  very  good  taste  in  any  circumstances.  But 
Monro  had  long  known  him  as  a  youth  of  most  serious  in- 
tentions where  things  sacred  were  concerned,  a  devout 
believer,  and  a  leader  among  the  piously  inclined  in  his 
college ;  so  the  only  inference  was  that  much  brooding 
on  the  subject  had  affected  his  mind.  McAllister,  receiv- 
ing no  answer,  stopped  in  his  promenade  and,  seeing  the 
look  of  dismay  in  his  friend's  face,  laughed  in  a  manner 
so  hearty  that  Monro,  after  a  moment  or  two,  joined  him, 
all  his  doubt  as  to  the  sanity  of  the  former  being  dissi- 
pated by  their  mutual  mirth. 

"  I  thought  at  first  you  were  in  earnest,"  said  Monro. 

"  Oh, I  am  serious  enough,  but  a  glance  at  your  face 
just  now  would  make  anybody  laugh." 

"  Then  kindly  explain  how  you  intend  to  arrive  at  the 


"I  and  my  partner"  m 

will  of  the  Lord,  In  any  case  where  your  opinion  differs 
from  mine.  I  take  it  that  you  mean  our  business  relations 
to  be  regulated  in  a  measure  by  the  Good  Book,  and  to 
that  I  have  no  objection,  so  long  as  it  is  done  on  practical 
lines." 

"  My  dear  boy,  of  course  it  will  be  done  along  prac- 
tical lines,  so  practical  that  we  cannot  possibly  fail,  and 
to  convince  you  of  that  I  will  explain  the  modus  oper- 
andi.  Let  me  ask  you  if  you  believe  in  the  Bible  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  suppose  so :  in  a  general  way,  as  the  average 
man  believes  it." 

"  Do  you  believe  it  on  Sunday  or  on  Wednesday?  " 
"  If  I  believe  it  at  all  I  believe  it  every  day  in  the  week." 
"  That's  right.  That's  the  way  to  believe  it.  A  great 
many  people  believe  it  only  on  Sunday,  just  as  the 
churches  are  open  on  that  day  and  on  no  other.  Now,  1 
believe  it  every  day  and  every  hour  in  -every  day  and 
every  minute  in  every  hour.  If  I  ever  possess  an  office 
I'm  going  to  have  a  Bible  bound  the  same  as  ledger  and 
daybook,  right  on  the  desk  with  them,  and  that  will  be 
our  workable  written  constitution.  In  this  Bible  is  a  legal 
contract  offered  to  me  by  the  Lord,  and  I  have  accepted 
it.  I  am  the  party  of  the  second  part.  It  is  plain,  direct 
and  to  the  point,  without  any  of  the  unnecessary  or  ob- 
scuring verbiage  which  a  modern  lawyer  would  put  in  to 
bind  both  parties,  and  the  agreement  is,  '  Seek  ye  first  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  and  all  these  things  shall  be  added 
unto  you.'  All  what  things?  Anything  you  may  legit- 
imately desire ;  your  hundred  thousand,  or  my  million. 
Now,  I  have  sought  the  kingdom  of  heaven  and  so  have 
fulfilled  that  proviso.  I  have  written  out  this  contract, 
and  beneath  I  have  put  the  words, '  Accepted  by  Benjamin 
McAllister.' " 

"  Um,  yes.  Ben,  that's  all  very  well ;  but  I  think  you 
are  interpreting  the  Scriptures  just  a  trifle  literally.  Of 
course  you  are  much  better  versed  in  them  than  I  am,  but 
still  my  impression  is  that  these  texts  refer  rather  to 
spiritual  matters  than  to  material  things.  As  the  lawyers 
say,  you  must  take  into  consideration  the  context,  and 
I  believe  I  am  right  when  I  hold  that  the  general  tenor  of 


IT2  The  Victors 

the  Bible  sets  rather  against  riches  than  for  them.  If  you 
seek  the  kingdom  of  heaven  you  will  probably  get  it, 
but  not  necessarily  your  million  here  on  earth." 

"  Now,  Jim,  there's  just  where  you're  away  off,  and 
that's  just  the  mistake  the  world  has  been  making  for 
centuries.  My  idea  of  the  Lord  is  this  :  There  is  nothing 
small  or  mean  about  Him.  He  isn't  going  to  shelter 
Himself  behind  a  technicality;  that  kind  of  thing  is 
human  and  legal.  The  Lord  knows  very  well  that  I 
don't  understand  Hebrew  or  Greek,  but  just  straight, 
plain  American  talk.  If  there's  been  any  mistake  made  in 
the  translation,  or  if  there  is  any  subtle  meaning  in  the 
contract,  why,  that's  not  my  fault,  and  even  if  He  didn't 
intend  the  passage  to  be  taken  literally,  the  very  fact  that 
I  take  it  literally  is  enough,  and  I  have  every  faith  that 
He  will  hold  to  His  end  of  the  bargain  as  long  as  I  ad- 
here faithfully. to  mine.  There  is  the  contract  set  down  in 
black  and  white,  worded  so  simply  that  any  man,  woman 
or  child  can  understand  it.  You  must  believe  it  if  you 
believe  the  Bible.  I  accept  it  without  any  mental  reserva- 
tion whatever,  and  I  expect  the  party  of  the  first  part  to 
fulfil  to  the  letter  His  promise,  and,  what  is  more,  I  shall 
demand  such  fulfilment." 

As  McAllister  spoke  with  fervid  declamation,  hands 
nervously  outstretched,  like  a  man  exhorting,  all  the 
preacher  in  his  nature  was  brought  into  evidence.  Monro 
replied  with  calm  gravity : 

"  Not  demand,  Ben :  request  or  beseech  is  the  word  you 
surely  intended  to  use.  You  forget  that  you  are  speaking 
of  God,  and  although  I  make  no  claim  to  being  a  devout 
person,  yet  really,  religious  as  I  believe  you  to  be,  you 
say  things  that  shock  me." 

"  I  mean  no  disrespect,  but  I  hold  that  the  world  has 
been  wrong  in  the  grovelling  attitude  it  has  heretofore 
taken-  up  before  the  Lord.  I  don't  think  He  wants  it  or 
cares  for  it.  He  has  a  right  to  demand  of  me  that  I 
keep  His  laws,  and  I  have  a  right  to  demand  of  Him  the 
completion  of  any  promise  He  makes  me." 

"  Well,  we  will  let  it  go  at  that,  agreeing  to  differ  on 
the  attitude.  Now,  let  us  come  to  the  practical  working 


"I  and  my  partner"  113 

of  your  partnership.  Do  you  intend  to  put  forth  the 
schemes  and  leave  the  working  of  them  to  your  heavenly 
partner?  " 

"  No,  sir.  I  look  on  God  as  I  would  look  upon  a 
rich  man  who  furnished  us  with  a  working  capital.  In 
our  present  partnership  we  will  each  do  the  best  we  can, 
until  we  are  up  against  a  stone  wall  that  we  can't  either 
climb  over  or  break  down  ;  then  we  will  call  for  assistance 
from  the  Lord,  asking  Him  either  to  show  us  a  way  out, 
or  to  remove  an  obstruction  we  cannot  surmount." 

"  I  believe  in  that.  The  plan  strikes  me  as  good 
common-sense.  If  a  man  will  do  his  very  best  right  along 
— yes,  I  believe  in  that,  and  I'm  willing  to  join  on  such 
conditions.  Now,  to  go  a  step  further,  have  you  had  any 
consultation  on  the  peddling  business  f  " 

"  Yes,  sir,  "  replied  Ben,  with  great  emphasis,  "  and 
the  peddling  business  is  no  good." 

Monro  laughed.  "  I  agree  with  my  partners  on  that," 
he  said. 

"  Last  night,"  continued  McAllister,  unheeding 
laughter  or  remark,  "  I  prayed  more  earnestly  than  ever 
I  prayed  before ;  for  this  peddling  was  my  scheme,  and 
I  wanted  an  opinion  on  it.  I  said,  '  O  Lord,  Jim  and 
I  are  up  a  tree,  and  we're  not  making  a  cent.  We  owe 
nearly  two  weeks'  board  to  these  honest  people  here,  and 
we  haven't  a  dollar  to  pay  it  with,  and  perhaps  they  don't 
care  to  take  the  truck  we  have  to  offer  them,  for  nobody 
seems  to  want  it.  Now  I  don't  believe  Pat  Maguire  is 
going  to  buy  our  things,  cr  if  he  did  I  don't  suppose  he's 
got  the  money  to  pay  for  them ;  so  we're  all  at  sea  and 
haven't  a  notion  what  to  do.  Give  us  a  hint.  We'll  start 
out  peddling  to-morrow  morning  same  as  usual,  and  if 
we've  got  discouraged  too  soon  let  the  first  man  we  apply 
to  or  the  first  woman  buy  something ;  then  we'll  keep  on. 
If  not,  let  somebody  make  an  offer  for  our  horse  and 
waggon  and  stock.'  Now,  Jim,  do  you  remember  what  the 
first  man  we  met  said  to  us  this  morning?" 

"  I  don't  just  recollect,  but  it  wasn't  anything  very 
pleasant." 

"  He  said,  '  What  are  you  fellows  fooling  'round  the 
8 


ii4  The  Victors 

country  in  this  way  for,  like  a  couple  of  loafers,  when 
there's  good  work  waiting  to  be  done  ?  Here  you  are,  two 
able-bodied  young  men,  a-peddling!'  That's  what  he 
said.  He  thought  he  was  speaking,  but  I  knew  it  was  the 
voice  of  the  Lord.  I  knew  the  moment  he  spoke  that  we 
were  going  to  sell  our  rig  before  noon  and  get  the  cash. 
And,  do  you  know,  I  think  I  ought  to  have  taken  the  extra 
five  dollars  Maguire  offered.  I  believe  we'll  need  that 
money." 

"  I  told  you  at  the  time  you  should  have  taken  it." 

"  Well,  I  was  wrong  there.  You  see  what  comes  of 
depending  too  much  on  one's  self." 

"  Oh,  the  firm  will  easily  make  an  extra  five  when  it 
gets  a-going.  What's  the  next  item  on  the  programme  ?  " 

"  I  told  it  to  Maguire.  We're  going  to  Chicago,  and 
then  down  to  Stormboro.  That  was  impressed  on  me  this 
morning  when  I  woke  up." 

"What's  the  object?" 

"  I  don't  know  just  yet.  That  will  all  come  in  good 
time." 

"  It  will  take  a  good  slice  out  of  our  cash,  eight  dollars 
each  at  least,  so  when  we've  paid  for  our  board  there  won't 
be  much  left." 

"  My  dear  Jim,  you  forget  our  usual  way  of  travelling. 
Don't  you  know  they're  shipping  west  all  the  grain  cars 
there  are  in  this  country  to  take  this  wheat  crop  to  the  sea- 
board ?  There'll  be  train  after  train  of  empty  grain  cars 
going  through  Chicago,  and  you  can't  ask  for  a  more  com- 
fortable ride  than  in  an  empty  grain  car ;  it's  clean  and 
commodious,  and  you  can  get  a  good  sleep.  When  they're 
full  of  wheat  it  seems  comfortable  at  first,  but  the  cold 
grain  chills  you  to  the  bone  in  a  long  ride.  Besides  the 
doors  are  apt  to  be  locked  when  the  cars  are  full,  but  we'll 
have  no  trouble  finding  a  place  in  a  train  of  west-bound 
empties." 

Jim  threw  himself  on  the  sward  at  full  length,  laughing 
boisterously  and  long,  rolling  from,  side  to  side  and  kick- 
ing up  his  heels  like  an  urchin  let  loose  from  school,  which 
in  truth  he  was.  Ben  looked  down  upon  him,  with  wonder 
at  this  sudden  attack  of  hilarity. 


"1  and  my  partner"  115 

"  What's  the  matter?  "  he  asked  in  a  tone  of  astonish- 
ment. "  There  isn't  anything  particularly  funny  in  a  ride 
on  a  freight  train ;  we've  often  done  it  before.'' 

"  Often,  often,  Ben,  and  there's  nothing  funny  about 
it,  as  you  say,  especially  when  you're  .riding  on  the  trucks 
underneath,  or  between  the  cars,  or  even  on  the  swaying 
top,  keeping  an  eye  out  for  a  brakeman  with  a  heavy 
boot ;  but  it  does  seem  a  little  incongruous  for  you  to  be 
preaching  religion  and  morality  a  minute  ago,  and  now 
coolly  proposing  that  we  steal  a  ride  on  the  Michigan 
Central  Railroad.  Hasn't  the  Lord  anything  to  do  with 
that  corporation  if  we  are  allowed  to  cheat  it  ?  " 

"  We're  not  cheating  anybody,  nor  stealing  anything," 
cried  Ben,  indignantly.  "  We  must  get  to  Chicago,  and 
we  haven't  the  money  to  spare.  Our  being  in  the  car 
won't  cost  the  Michigan  Central  a  penny  extra.  It  won't 
have  to  expend  another  pound  of  coal  because  of  our 
additional  weight." 

"  Oh,  I  know  all  the  arguments  in  favour  of  such  a  pro- 
ceeding. It's  always  our  sin  that  is  innoxious,  with  plenty 
of  excuses  for  it,  and  it's  the  other  fellow's  crime  which 
is  unpardonable.  There's  poor  Maguire,  for  instance. 
His  proposed  bribing  of  voters  was  heinous  in  your  eyes. 
Now,  it  is  possible,  although  I  admit  not  probable,  that 
Maguire  might  look  upon  stealing  a  ride  as  dishonest. 
I  don't  see  much  difference  between  the  morality  of  the 
two  acts  myself." 

"  Why,  yes,  you  do.  Bribing  electors  is  a  crime  against 
the  state  aiml  a  corrupting  of  others.  If  I  were  a  friend 
of  Henry  B.  Ledyard,  the  president  of  the  road,  I  have 
no  doubt  he  would  give  me  a  pass,  and  I  could  travel  to 
Chicago  in  luxury  and  comfort ;  yet  the  railway  would  be 
no  more  harmed  or  benefited  in  the  case  of  the  passenger 
in  the  first-class  coach  than  in  the  case  of  the  two  of  us  in 
the  freight  car.  Are  we  to  suffer  because  instead  of  being 
friends  of  a  railroad  president  we  are  merely  friends  of 
the  Lord?  I  guess  not.  Besides,  I'll  send  the  amount  of 
our  ride  to  the  road  as  soon  as  I  get  the  money.  I've 
kept  an  account  of  all  the  trips  I've  taken  on  freight 
trains,  and  some  day  I'm  going  to  settle  up  with  interest. 
That's  honest  enough  to  suit  anybody." 


n6  The  Victors 

Jim  continued  laughing,  much  to  Ben's  discomfiture. 
A  serious  man  never  likes  being  made  the  butt  of  a  fr.v- 
olous  friend. 

"  I'd  just  like  to  see  you  tell  the  ordinary  hardened  rail 
way  employee,  whose  delight  is  firing  tramps  off  trains, 
that  you  are  travelling  on  a  pass  given  by  Providence.  1 
doubt  if  he  would  honour  it,  and  I  think  I  should  rather 
have  Ledyard's  signature  on  mine.  What  will  you  say  if 
we  are  discovered  and  thrown  out,  as  we  will  be  if  we 
are  caught  ?  " 

"  Say  ?  There  will  be  nothing  to  say  but  that  the  Lord 
intends  us  to  get  off  at  that  place.  That's  simple  enough." 

"  Well,  Ben,  I'm  with  you,  of  course,  but  I  must  admit 
thSf  if  I'm  to  have  a  stop-over  hint  from  above  I  wish  it 
w&uld  take  some  other  form  than  my  being  flung  over  the 
head  of  some  stalwart  brakemen  onto  a  pile  of  railroad 
ties.  I've  been  there  before." 

"  All  right.  If  you're  through  with  your  scoffing 
remarks  and  will  get  on  your  feet,  we'll  mosey  off  to  the 
farm,  settle  our  bill  and  say  good-bye,  then  on  to  Ann 
Arbor  before  nightfall." 

"  Just  one  more  point  on  the  general  question  before  we 
end  this  interesting  discussion.  Are  you  certain  the  Lord 
intends  us  to  go  to  Chicago,  and  then  down  into  Illinois  ?  '' 

"  Yes,  I  am.  Of  course  we  may  be  deflected  before  we 
get  there." 

"  I  think  we  won't." 

"No?    Why?" 

"  Why  ?  Simply  because  there's  a  nice  and  attract- 
ive young  lady  whom  it  is  unnecessary  to  name,  in  the 
town  of  Stormboro." 

"  What  do  you  mean?  " 

"  Be  honest,  Ben.  You  see  how  this  projected  raid  on 
the  Michigan  Central  has  shaken  my  faith  in  your  probity, 
and  now  you  confirm  this  by  pretending  you  don  t  know 
what  1  mean." 

"  I  suppose  you  are  referring  to  Miss  Constance 
Fraser." 

''  I  suppose  I  am.  I  heard  a  preacher  say  once  that,  in 
the  matter  of  investments,  religious  people  were  very 


"I  and  my  partner"  117 

apt  to  see  the  finger  of  the  Lord  pointing  towards  ten  per 
cent.  I  have  known  ministers  themselves  seek  guidance 
when  a  bigger  salary  was  offered  them,  and  they  generally 
found  duty  drag  them  toward  the  richer  congregation. 
If  we  are  going  to  do  business  on  guidance  lines,  I  want  to 
be  very  sure  that  there  are  no  other  influences  at  work, 
lor  if  they  are  at  work  I  want  the  fact  to  be  faced 
honestly." 

Ben's  brow  ruffled,  and  he  bent  his  head  for  a  few 
moments.  "  Do  you  know,  Jim,"  he  said  at  last,  "  that 
very  point  occurred  to  me  last  night?  I  do  want  to  see 
her;  there's  no  use  in  denying  it.  Still  I  have  tried  not  to 
let  this  wish  affect  me  one  way  or  other." 

"  All  right,  Ben,  I  believe  you.    Let  us  go." 


CHAPTER  IX 

"YOU  CHARGE  ME  MOST  UNJUSTLY." 

LOTTIE  stood  still,  with  her  hands  behind  her  back, 
gazing  open-eyed  at  the  door  which  had  been  slammed 
and  which  seemed  to  quiver  with  anger.  She  aroused  her- 
self at  last  with  a  long-drawn  sigh. 

"  Ah,  well,"  murmured  the  girl  to  herself,  "  it  doesn't 
matter.  It  is  better  that  he  should  not  come  here  again ; 
still  .  .  .  I'm  sorry." 

Mrs.  By  field  came  in  the  dining-room  from  the  par- 
lour, where  she  had  been  dusting.  She  found  Lottie 
quietly  clearing  away  the  dishes  that  remained  on  the 
table. 

"Was  that  Mr.  Maguire  was  here  just  now?" 

"  Yes,  mother." 

"  Didn't  he  have  his  breakfast  ?  " 

"  He  has  had  it  just  now." 

"  Where  did  he  come  from  ?  " 

"  He  was  over  at  Slade's." 

"  Oh,  that's  just  like  old  Slade's  meanness,  to  let  a  man 
go  away  without  giving  him  a  bite  to  eat." 

"  Breakfast  was  over  when  he  got  there,  mother." 

"  Well,  it's  over  here,  but  I  hope  we  never  turn  away 
a  hungry  man,  at  any  hour  of  the  day." 

The  daughter  made  no  reply,  silently  busied  with  her 
work,  the  mother  watching  with  anxious  intentness.  At 
last  she  spoke  again. 

"  What  were  you  talking  about,  Lottie?  " 

"Nothing." 

"  I  thought  I  heard  loud  voices." 

"  He  was  speaking  about  the  voting  to-morrow." 

"  I  wonder  why  he  takes  such  an  interest  in  it  ?  " 

The  girl  was  too  truthful  to  say  she  didn't  know,  and 
118 


"You  charge  me  most   unjustly"         119 

so  continued  her  accustomed  reticence.  The  mother 
seemed  nervously  fidgety,  disturbed  by  the  melancholy  in 
the  girl's  moist  eyes,  wishing  to  know  the  cause,  but 
baffled  by  the  atmosphere  of  diffident  reserve  that  sur- 
rounded both,  and  afraid  to  ask  a  direct  question. 

The  strong  affection  with  which  each  regarded  the 
other  was  deep,  but  rarely  vocal. 

"  Does  he  seem  to  be  satisfied  with  the  way  he  is  get- 
ting along  about  the  voting?  " 

"  Yes ;  I  think  so." 

"  Well,  it's  curious  what  people  will  do  for  a  living, 
though  I  don't  see  how  he's  to  make  anything  out  of  this ; 
yet  he's  up  early  and  going  late  and  talking,  talking  all 
the  time.  I  am  sure  he's  the  dreadfulest  man  to  talk  I 
ever  heard.  It  doesn't  seem  to  make  any  difference  to 
him  whether  anybody  else  talks  or  not;  he's  always  got 
something  to  say.  But  then  it's  here  to-day  and  gone 
to-morrow  with  the  like  of  him.  I  don't  think  peddling's 
much  of  a  business,  or  he  wouldn't  drop  it  so  quick  to  go 
in  for  electioneering,  'specially  when  there's  nothing  to 
be  made  of  it  that  I  can  see.  He  didn't  say  anything  about 
that,  did  he?" 

"  He  mentioned  it  among  other  things.  I  didn't  take 
much  notice  of  what  he  said." 

"  Well,  I  think  it's  just  as  well  not  to  take  much  notice 
of  people  that  come  from  we  don't  know  where.  I  don't 
know  anything  agin  him,  but  then  I  don't  know  much  in 
his  favour,  either.' 

This  bringing  no  response,  the  good  woman  went  on 
with  her  reflections. 

"  After  all,  there's  nothing  like  some  one  we  know,  who 
has  a  good  farm,  for  when  a  young  man  has  a  farm  there's 
something  to  him.  It's  hard  work,  but  there's  always  a 
sure  living  to  be  made  out  of  it.  I  don't  pay  much  atten- 
tion to  them  that  come  and  go,  like.  It  seems  so  kind  of 
uncertain.  A  farm's  a  farm,  and  if  the  mortgage  on  it's 
not  too  heavy  there  it  is,  and  you  can  count  on  it." 

The  advantages  of  possessing  a  farm  were  so  un- 
doubted that  the  girl  found  no  comment  to  offer  upon  a 
self-evident  proposition.  The  mother  appeared  to  think 


I2O  The  Victors 

that  it  was  necessary  to  make  her  remarks  even  more  gen- 
eral than  they  were.  She  was  awed  by  her  daughter's 
silence  and  evident  depression,  for  the  latter  of  which  she 
could  assign  no  cause,  unless  it  had  something  to  do  with 
the  sudden  departure  of  the  visitor. 

"  I  never  could  see  that  them  that  went  away  from 
home  bettered  themselves  much,  even  when  young  men 
go.  They  say  that  William  Slade's  not  doing  so  very 
well  out  in  Minnesota,  even  with  land  cheaper  than  it  is 
in  Michigan,  and  they  do  say  the  locusts  is  something 
dreadful  away  west  in  Oregon  and  them  places.  I  do 
hope  Sam  won't  take  it  into  his  head  to  go  west  like  he 
was  talking  about  when  Billy  Slade  went,  for  I'm  sure 
there's  no  need,  his  father  not  being  as  close-fisted  as  old 
Slade,  who  wouldn't  care  if  his  family  was  scattered  to 
the  four  winds  of  heaven  as  long's  he  wasn't  asked  for  a 
cent.  Boys  with  fathers  like  that  can't  worsen  themselves 
much,  and  there's  always  the  chance  of  doing  better." 

Lottie  breathed  easier  as  the  gender  of  the  one-sided 
discussion  changed,  and  she  uttered  a  low-voiced  sentence 
of  agreement,  glad  that  the  danger  of  investigating  her 
own  feelings  was  over.  She  would  like  to  have  spoken 
freely  to  her  mother,  but  some  inward  feeling  of  semi- 
ashamed  reluctance  held  her  back. 

At  noon  McAllister  and  Monro  put  in  an  appearance 
and  enjoyed  their  dinner.  They  announced  their  depart- 
ure, and  attempted'  to  settle  their  board  bill,  but  all 
recompense  was  refused  by  Mrs.  Byfield.  They  were 
more  than  welcome,  she  said,  but  the  husband  kept 
silence.  However,  the  consciences  of  the  boys  were  satis- 
fied, for  Mr.  Byfield  himself,  bidding  them  good-bye  on 
the  stoop,  made  no  objection  to  the  acceptance  of  the  cash, 
looking  cautiously  over  his  shoulder  the  while  and  slip- 
ping it  with  rapidity  into  his  trousers  pocket.  They 
waved  farewell  to  Lottie,  standing  half-concealed  at  the 
front  window,  and  went  off  down  the  road  erect  and  with 
swinging,  hopeful  gait,  as  if  the  pack  which  had  left  their 
shoulders  had  lifted  from  them  a  heavier  weight  than  its 
bulk  indicated.  She  thought  she  would  never  see  them 
again,  not  realising  the  smallness  of  our  insignificant 
planet. 


"You  charge  me  most   unjustly" 

The  men,  hired  and  free,  but  equally  hard-worked, 
went  out  once  more  to  the  fields,  and  the  women  finished 
their  duties  ;n  the  house.  Lottie  remembered  with  a 
pang,  which  she  strove  to  conceal  from  herself,  that  this 
was  the  hour,  every  day  since  he  had  been  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood, that  Maguire  had  come  casually  round  to  the 
farm,  sometimes  from  one  direction,  sometimes  from 
another,  always  ready  with  a  plausible  excuse  for  his 
presence.  As  she  dressed  herself  she  thought  of  their 
quarrel,  if  the  fall-out  could  be  dignified  by  such  a  term. 
It  seemed  low  and  squalid,  pertaining  to  a  heap  of  torn 
bank-notes,  dirty  in  every  sense  of  the  word.  No  such 
unsavoury  differences  had  ever  divided  hero  and  heroine 
in  the  charming  Peterson  romances ;  they  were  severed 
(temporarily,  it  is  true)  by  some  high  matter  of  principle, 
perhaps  the  hero's  poverty  and  his  scornful  refusal  to 
profit  by  a  richly  dowered  bride.  But  to  separate 
in  anger  over  the  question  of  the  hero's  right  to  some 
greasy  bills  was  something  too  sordid  for  the  fair 
pages  of  a  lady's  magazine.  As  this  thought  crossed 
Lottie's  mind,  the  beginning  of  disillusion,  she  heard, 
with  a  sudden  accession  of  heart  beats,  the  customary 
click  of  the  front  gate,  just  as  it  had  clicked  at 
that  hour  every  day  for  the  last  two  weeks.  From 
where  she  stood  she  saw  Maguire  come  through  the 
gateway  and  up  the  walk,  hat  on  the  back  of  his 
head  as  usual ;  jaunty  confidence  in  his  stride.  No 
depression  there,  to  all  appearance ;  no  searching  of  the 
heart  as  to  whether  the  right  tone  had  been  taken ;  no 
remorse.  There  was  nothing  of  the  returned  repentant 
in  that  superb  swagger. 

Lottie  sank  on  the  one  chair  that  occupied  her  room, 
resolved  not  to  see  him,  if,  indeed,  he  wished  to  see  her. 
After  all,  it  was  not  the  bundle  of  motes  they  had  dis- 
puted about,  but  a  question  of  right  and  wrong,  and  right 
was  right,  whatever  resulted.  She  heard  him  enter  the 
deserted  parlour.  The  footsteps  paused  at  the  door,  ad- 
vanced to  the  table  and  paused  again.  Then  she  heard 
her  own  name  breathed  softly,  once,  twice,  thrice,  a 
little  louder  each  time,  and  her  hand  went  up  to  her  pal- 


122  The  Victors 

pitating  throat,  where  her  breath  came  and  went  with 
difficulty,  but  she  did  not  move.  The  silence  of  the  room 
seemed  to  oppress  the  volatile  visitor,  for  he  cried  out  in 
his  habitually  boisterous  tones : 

"  Everybody  gone  a-harvesting?  " 

Lottie  heard  the  door  of  the  adjoining  room  open,  and 
then  her  mother's  gentle  voice  greeted  the  incomer. 

"  Oh,  is  that  you,  Mr.  Maguire?  I  don't  know  where 
Lottie  is  gone.  Very  likely  she  is  out  at  the  chickens." 

"  Yes,  it's  me,  Mrs.  Byfield,  large  as  life  and  every  bit 
as  handsome.  I've  kind  of  dropped  round  to  say  good- 
bye, for  I  must  be  off  to-morrow.  Best  of  friends  must 
part,  you  know,  and  I've  had  a  High  old  time  in  this  here 
locality." 

"  I'm  sorry  you're  going,  but  I  suppose  an  energetic 
young  man  like  you  wants  to  be  doing  something,  and 
there  isn't  much  money  to  be  made  round  here." 

"  That's  a  fact.  Yes,  I'm  just  about  off  for  New  York. 
I  know  they're  a-howling  for  me  there,  'cause  I'm  so 
long  a-coming." 

"  Is  that  where  your  folks  live?  " 

"  Oh,  bless  you,  no.  I've  never  been  there  myself  either, 
but  I  guess  they  want  a  man  with  some  get-up-and-git 
about  him  in  that  town.  So  they  tell  me,  and  I'm  ready  to 
do  what  I  can  for  them.  Now,  Mrs.  Byfield,  I've  got  a 
nice,  new,  crisp  ten-dollar  bill  here  for  you.  Not  but  that 
I've  had  ten  times  the  worth  of  it.  Still,  if  I  get  off  at 
that,  I'm  more  than  satisfied." 

Lottie,  listening,  rose  impulsively  from  her  chair,  her 
breath  coming  quick  and  eager,  .and  stood  with  her  hand 
hovering  over  the  latch.  But  her  mother's  answer  re- 
assured her,  and  the  outstretched  hand  fell  to  her  side 
again  as  silently  as  it  had  been  raised. 

"  I  couldn't  think  of  taking  anything.  I'm  sure  you're 
very  welcome  to  whatever  you've  had  in  this  house.  ' 

"  Now,  Mrs.  Byfield,  you  mustn't  say  that.  I  owe  the 
money  over  and  over  again,  and  I  tell  you  I'm  getting 
off  dead  cheap.  I  feel  a  regular  sneak,  paying  so  little. 
Do  take  it,  Mrs.  Byfield." 

"  I  couldn't  think  of  it,  and  we  are  treating  you  no 


"You  charge  me  most   unjustly"        123 

different  from  the  others.  Your  two  friends  were  here  at 
noon  to  bid  us  good-bye,  and  I  wouldn't  take  anything 
from  them,  although  they  insisted,  and  I  won't  take  any- 
thing from  you,  either." 

"  Why,  you  should  take  all  the  more  from  me,  because 
I  was  the  reason  of  them  being  here ;  yes,  indeed,  I  ought 
to  pay  for  the  crowd.  Now,  it's  just  like  this.  I  want  to 
come  back  here  again  and  see  you  all,  but  if  you  don't 
take  this  money  I  can't  come  back.  I  wouldn't  have  the 
cheek.  If  you  don't  take  this  bill  I  swear  I'll  tear  it  up 
and  throw  away  the  pieces,  and  then  it  won't  do  nobody 
any  good." 

Again  Lottie's  hand  raised  to  the  latch  and  wavered 
there. 

"  You  wouldn't  do  anything  so  foolish.  I'm  sure  you're 
quite  welcome  to  come  back  here  any  time  you  want  to. ' 

"  Mrs.  Byfield,  you're  like  everybody  else  after  all. 
And  I  thought  you  were  different.  You're  downright 
hard  on  me.  I  want  you  to  take  this  money  and  buy 
something  for  yourself  wiih  it.  Then,  when  I'm  away, 
I'll  feel  good  to  think  you've  had  something  you  wanted, 
and  perhaps  you  will  remember  a  fellow  wandering  about 
the  country  that  happened  along  here  in  harvest  time. 
That's  what  I'd  like.  You  see,  Mrs.  Byfield,  I  ain't  got 
no  mother  of  my  own  to  give  ten  dollars  to — I  wish  I 
had — and  you've  been  as  good  as  a  mother  to  me.  That's 
right,  every  time.  You  think  because  I  don't  go  round 
dressed  as  fine  as  some  fellows  that  I  ain't  got  much 
money,  but  that's  where  you're  away  off.  I  can  make 
money  where  other  fellows  would  starve.  Look  at  that 
pile  ?  I  had  all  that  when  I  came  here,  but  I  wasn't  goinr: 
round  bragging  about  it." 

Lottie,  standing  there,  imagined  him  holding  out  the 
roll  of  grimy  bills  to  uer  mother,  whose  ejaculation  of 
astonishment  she  heard.  •  But  her  confidence  that  the 
money  would  not  be  accepted  reasserted  herself,  and  her 
hand  sank  once  more  to  her  side. 

"  I'm  very  glad  you're  doing  so  well." 

"  Well?  You  bet!  But  it's  nothing  to  what  I  will  do, 
Mrs.  Byfield,  for  this  is  the  country  to  make  money  in, 


124  The  Victors 

and  I'm  the  man  to  make  it.  I'm  a  teilow  that  pays  my 
way  every  time.  What's  a  man  if  he's  not  honest?  He 
doesn't  amount  to  shucks.  So  now,  Mrs.  Byfield,  I  know 
vou'\\  oblige  me  by  taking-  this  here  ten  ;  for  if  you  didn't 
I'd  feel  that  I'd  cheated,  and  I  hate  to  go  away  feeling 
like  that.  It  'ud  break  my  luck,  sure." 

"  Well,  if  you  feel  like  that  about  it,  Mr.  Maguire,  I'll 
take  it,  although  it's  altogether  too  much,  and  I'd  rather, 
if  you  insist  on  paying,  you'd  make  it  half  at  most." 

"  Not  a  half.  I'm  no  half-way  man,  I  ain't,  and  you've 
made  me  feel  better'n  I've  felt  for  years." 

Lottie's  hand  struck  the  latch,  and  the  door  was  flung 
open. 

"  Don't  touch  that  money,  mother !  "  she  cried,  with 
blazing  eyes.  "  It  is  dishonest.  Stolen  money  would  be 
cleaner." 

"  Why,  Lottie !  "  was  all  the  astounded  woman  could 
gasp.  Even  the  self-sufficient  and  collected  Maguire 
took  a  startled  step  backward,  and  the  disputed  bill  flut- 
tered to  the  floor  like  an  autumn  leaf. 

"  That  money  was  collected  for  bribing  wretches  who 
are  ready  to  sell  their  votes  to-morrow,  and  he  is  cheating 
the  cheaters ;  running  the  risk  of  state's  prison  in  order 
to  get  it." 

"  Oh,"  sighed  Mrs.  Byfield,  shrinking  still  further  from 
the  ownerless  banknote  on  the  floor  and  looking  as  guilty 
as  if  she  had  been  detected  in  compounding  a  felony. 

"  Will  you  let  me  ?ay  a  few  words  ?  "  inquired  Maguire 
in  accents  as  gentle  as  those  of  a  dove. 

"  No,  I  won't,"  exclaimed  the  girl,  vehemently,  "  you've 
already  said  more  than  enough.  Pick  up  your  ten-dollar 
bill  and  take  it  away  from  this  house." 

The  young  man  made  no  motion  to  recover  his  prop- 
erty, but  stood  there,  an  expression  of  the  most  angelic 
mildness  on  his  face.  When  he  spoke,  it  was  in  a  tone  of 
chastened  sadness. 

"  You  will  surely  hear  me,  Mrs.  Byfield.  I  cannot 
complain,  for  everyone  is  down  on  me,  and  I  guess  I 
deserve  it.  Miss  Byfield  is  quite  right  to  talk  like  that 
about  me,  for  this  morning  I  deserved  it,  yes,  I  did,  every 


"You  charge  me  most    unjustly"        125 

word  of  it,  and  more.  You  see,  I've  had  no  sort  of  bring- 
up,  and  this  is  the  only  house  I  ever  had  anyone  talk 
to  me  in  as  I  should  be  talked  to,  and  that's  why  I  feel 
grateful.  I  told  Miss  Byfield  this  morning,  right  out, 
what  I  intended  to  do,  and  she  said  straight  that  I  was 
no  good.  Well,  I  got  mad ;  that's  the  kind  of  durn  fool  I 
am,  and  I  went  out  and  hitched  up  my  pony,  getting 
madder  'n  madder.  Then  when  I  got  out  on  the  road  I 
began  to  think,  and  I  said  to  myself,  '  Pat,  that  girl's  dead 
right,  and  you're  a  chump.'  That's  what  I  said.  The 
more  I  thought,  the  more  I  see  things  right,  and  the  worst 
of  it  was  because  I  had  plenty  of  money  and  didn't  need 
to  do  this  kind  of  thing  to  get  more.  Then  I  felt  dog 
mean  and  ashamed  of  myself.  Yes,  I  did.  I  went  right 
round  to  them  voters  and  I  says  to  'em,  '  You  don't  get 
one  cold  durned  cent  from  me,  so  you  just  vote  the  way 
you've  a  mind  to.'  That's  right,  for  I'm  a-giving  it  to 
you  straight,  and  there's  eleven  of  the  craziest  mad  voters 
in  this  here  polling  precinct  that  you  ever  see.  And 
all  the  more  so  'cause  they  ain't  got  anybody  to 
kick  but  themselves,  and  they  daren't  squeal  about 
it,  but  all  that  don't  matter  to  me  as  long's  I  got 
a  clear  conscience.  Then  I  catches  old  Slade  at  noon, 
and  he  don't  like  that,  cause  he  can't  decently  help 
but  ask  me  to  have  something  to  eat.  But  I  didn't 
sit  doivn.  I  says  to  him,  '  Mr.  Slade,'  I  says,  '  here's  this 
money  back  again  just  as  you  give  it  to  me.  If  you  want 
to  do  any  state's  prison  bribing  you've  got  to  do  it  your- 
self. You  count  this  money  and  you  give  me  back  my 
receipts,'  for  I  had  to  give  the  old  beggar  two  of  'em,  so's 
he'd  be  sure  to  clear  himself  if  any  trouble  came.  '  You 
give  me  them  there  receipts,'  I  said.  Well,  he  counted 
them  bills  and  silver  over  two  or  three  times  like  he  was 
in  a  dream,  and  then  he  onlocked  a  bookcase  and  give  me 
my  receipts,  and  there  they  are." 

Maguire  sighed  deeply  as  he  finished  his  long  harangue, 
which  had  been  addressed  to  Mrs.  Byfield ;  but  when  he, 
with  humble  mien,  placed  the  documents  in  question  on 
the  table,  he  put  them  where  the  girl  could  read  them: 
then  he  drew  back  deferentially  and  in  most  creditable 
fashion  took  up  the  pose  of  the  wronged  man. 


126     .  The  Victors 

In  spite  of  her  prohibition,  Lottie  stood  by  the  door 
while  he  spoke,  looking  intently  at  him  like  one  hypno- 
tised. He  never  glanced  at  her  until  he  had  finished,  and 
then  he  was  delighted  to  see  consternation  and  dismay  on 
her  fair  countenance.  That  she  believed  every  word  he 
said — and,  indeed,  he  had  spoken  the  truth  as  nearly  as 
was  possible  for  him — was  evident,  and  the  culminating 
proof  of  the  documents  served  but  to  emphasise  the  hor- 
ror she  felt  at  her  unjustifiable  slander  of  an  innocent 
fellow-creature.  She  turned,  leaned  her  arm  across  the 
door  jamb,  buried  her  face  in  it,  and  moaned,  "I  am 
sorry,"  that  short  phrase  being  all  her  emotion  allowed 
her  to  utter. 

"  Oh,  you  mustn't  mind,"  said  Maguire,  genially  ;  "  it's 
all  right.  I'm  used  to  it,  you  know.  If  there  was  a  horse 
stolen  in  the  neighbourhood,  they'd  all  say  it  was  Ma- 
guire. That's  why  I'm  going  East;  for  if  I  went  West 
they'd  surely  lynch  me  for  the  horse  somebody  else  made 
off  with.  That's  my  luck ;  but  1  never  kick,  for  I  know 
it'll  all  come  right  some  day,  unless  they  get  after  me  with 
a  rope  and  choke  off  explanations." 

"  I  don't  think  Lottie  quite  meant  what  she  said,"  com- 
mented the  mother,  quietly  and  almost  stealthily  retreat- 
ing toward  the  door  that  led  to  the  dining-room,  for  she 
felt  that  inopportuneness  of  presence  which  the  average 
American  parent  experiences  when  two  young  people 
have  their  private  affairs  to  discuss  or  any  unpleasant 
difference  to  arrange.  In  nothing  has  the  severance  of 
the  new  world  from  the  old  been  more  marked  than  in  the 
abdication  of  father  or  mother  from  all  position  of  in- 
terference with  the  adjustment  of  relationship  which  takes 
place  between  young  people. 

"  Yes,  I  meant  it,  mother,"  murmured  the  girl.  "  and 
there  is  no  excuse  for  me !  " 

"  Well,  then,  you  should  certainly  apologise  to  Mr.  Ma- 
guire," and  with  this  mild  counsel  she  silently  slipped 
away  from  them. 

"  Indeed,  Lottie,"  said  the  young  man  tenderly,  now 
that  they  were  alone,  "  there's  no  need,  not  the  slightest 
at  all,  at  all." 


"You  charge  me  most   unjustly"         127 

"  Oh,  but  there  is.  I  have  been  very  unjust,  and  I  do 
apologise." 

"  Sit  you  down  here,  Lottie,  where  you've  always  sat 
when  we  talked,  and  let  bygones  be  bygones.  Or,  better 
than  that,  let  us  have  our  old  bygones,  nice  and  friendly 
like  we  always  had  them.  You  see  I'm  a  hot-headed 
kind  of  a  cuss,  and  this  morning,  when  you  said  I  wasn't 
honest — well,  I  didn't  like  it,  and  so  went  off  the  handle 
in  a  sort  of  way,  because,  you  know,  as  a  general  rule, 
I  am  honest,  and  it  riled  me  to  hear  you  say  I  wasn't. 
But  then,  I  always  come  to  look  on  things  in  the  right 
way  if  you  give  me  time,  and  so,  by  and  by  I  see  that  this 
here  bribing  of  voters  isn't  the  thing  at  all,  at  all.  Funny, 
isn't  it?  People  never  think  of  money  spent  at  elections 
as  dishonest.  They  don't  in  towns,  and  don't  even  seem 
to  out  here  in  the  country.  Well,  I  ain't  any  better  than 
the  average,  and  I  look  on  things  in  the  same  way,  until 
somebody  pulls  me  up  with  a  round  turn,  like  you  did 
to-day,  and  then  I  begin  to  think.  That's  just  the  way  of 
it.  I  thought  at  first  you  was  hard  on  me,  but  when  1 
turned  it  over  and  over  in  my  mind  i  see  you  was  dead 
right.  Yes,  sir.  And  then  I  didn't  waste  a  minute  but 
lit  right  out  to  set  things  straight." 

"  I  was  hard.  I  shouldn't  have  spoken  as  I  did.  I 
have  no  right  to  set  up  as  a  judge  of  another — no  right 
at  all,  and  I  ask  you  to  forjive  me  for  what  I  said  just 
now." 

"  Oh,  you're  ail  right,  and  you  did  just  right.  Women 
are  better  than  men  all  the  world  over,  and,  if  they 
weren't,  this  would  be  a  tough  place  to  live  in.  Now 
I'm  off  to  Philadelphia  in  the  morning,  only  instead  of 
Philadelphia  it's  New  York.  Don't  you  wish  me  luck  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  do." 

"  Then  that  settles  it.  I'll  have  all  the  luck  there  is. 
But  there  isn't  much  use  having  luck  if  you  haven't 
friends  to  share  it  with.  Now  I  haven't  any  friends  ex- 
cept what's  in  this  house." 

"  Oh,  yes,  you  have.  There's  those  two  young  men  who 
left  to-day." 

"  Yes,  I  love  'em,  of  course,  but  still  I  wasn't  just  think- 


128  The  Victors 

ing  of  them  when  I  spoke.  I  was  thinking  of  you.  Say ! 
I  want  you  to  be  my  girl,  Lottie." 

The  young  woman,  her  cheeks  like  a  western  sunset, 
kept  her  eyes  on  the  tablecloth,  nervously  puckering  up 
its  folds  in  her  finders,  and  slowly  shook  her  head. 

"  Why?  I  know  I  ain't  good  enough,  but  you'll  make 
me  better,  although  I  don't  suppose  you'll  ever  make 
me  fit  for  you." 

There  was  still  no  response ;  no  uplifting  of  the  eyes. 

"  Is  it  because  I  haven't  got  the  rocks?  Thunder!  I'll 
make  more  money  than  ever  you  heard  of.  Sure.  There 
won't  be  any  trouble  about  that.  Why,  there's  plenty 
money  waiting  for  me  to  pick  up."  Saying  this, he  stooped 
down,  crumpled  in  his  hand  the  ownerless  ten-dollar  bill 
that  lay  on  the  rag  carpet  and  playfully  threw  it  at  her. 
She  started  back  as  the  paper  unexpectedly  struck  her 
downward  bent  face  and  laughed  uneasily. 

"  Why,  I've  money  to  throw  away,"  he  continued. 
"  I've  got  money  to  burn  now ;  what  won't  I  have  in  ten 
years,  with  New  York  just  crammed  with  cash." 

There  was  still  no  mitigation  of  the  silent  negative,  and 
Maguire's  fancy  took  alarm  in  another  direction. 

"Is  there  somebody  else,  then?  You  just  tell  me  his 
name,  and  I'll  go  and  knock  his  head  off.  Yes,  sir!  I'll 
do  it  in  two  minutes." 

Lottie  laujhed  now  with  more  of  heartiness  in  her 
tone,  and  spoke  at  last. 

"  You  don't  expect,  if  there  was  another,  that  your 
knocking  his  head  off  would  recommend  you  to  me?  " 

"  I'll  bet  it  wouldn't  recommend  him,  after  I  got 
through  with  him.  No,  sir !  You'd  think  he  had  been 
into  a  threshing-machine,  and  that's  just  where  he  would 
have  been." 

"  Oh,  I'm  not  alarmed ;  I'm  not  going  to  waste  any  sym- 
pathy on  him." 

"You  won't?" 

"  No,  because  he  doesn't  exist,  so  you  see  all  your  brag- 
ging is  lost." 

"  Me  brag?  I  never  brag.  I  merely  say  I  would 
knock  him  out,  whoever  he  is.  It's  lucky  for  him  he  isn't 


"You  charge    me  most  unjustly"        129 

anybody,  still  I'm  glad  there's  no  other  fellow ;  that  ought 
to  give  me  a  chance,  oughtn't  it?  " 

"  I  don't  know  why  it  ought." 

"  Look  here,  Lottie.  I'm  your  fellow  from  this  day  on, 
and  you're  my  girl.  Do  you  believe  it  ?  " 

"  No,  I  don't." 

"  Oh,  you  don't,  eh  ?  Well  that  makes  it  a  little  awk- 
ward ;  sort  of  one-sided.  Still  that  one  side  is  pretty  de- 
termined, and  don't  you  forget  it.  The  court,  if  she 
know  herself,  and  she  think  she  do,  has  one  object  in  this 
life  here  below." 

"  To  make  money  ?  " 

"  To  make  money,  of  course,  but  to  make  it  for  a  girl. 
Perhaps  you  don't  want  to  see  me  come  back  to  this 
farm?" 

"  Perhaps  I  don't." 

"Well,  do  you?" 

"  I  don't  know.  You  might  write  and  tell  us  how  you 
were  getting  on.  It  would  be  cheaper  than  railway  fare, 
for  New  York  is  a  long  distance  away." 

"  That's  a  good  idea.  I  will  write,  although  I'm  not 
much  of  a  hand  at  it.  Then  you'll  write  to  me,  won't 
you?" 

"  I  don't  see  any  harm  in  promising  that.  Yes,  I'll 
write." 

"  That's  lovely.  But,  nevertheless,  I'm  coming  back 
myself,  fare  or  no  fare — to  see  your  mother,  of  course." 

"  I'm  sure  she  will  be  very  glad  to  meet  you,  and  to 
hear  that  you  are  prospering." 

"  I'm  sure  she  will.  And  you  won't  forget  me,  will 
you?" 

"  Probably  I  shall  not.  And  you  will  forget  anything 
unjust  that  I  said  this  morning  and  this  afternoon?" 

"  Oh,  you  said  nothing  that  I  didn't  deserve,"  cried  the 
truthful  young  man  rising  and  taking  her  hand.  They 
stood  thus  for  a  moment  or  two  in  silence,  then  he  said 
with  a  sigh,  "Good-bye,  Lottie." 

"  Good-bye,"  she  replied  simply. 

And  so  Mr.  Patrick  Maguire  departed  for  the  East, 
leaving  on  the  tablecloth,  forgotten  by  each,  a  crumpled 
ten-dollar  bill, 
9 


CHAPTER   X 

"  RIDES    THE    WILD    MARE    WITH    THE    BOYS  " 

WHEN  McAllister  and  Monro  reached  Ann  Arbor  they 
reconnoitred  the  railway  station  with  the  nonchalant 
air  of  men  who  cherished  no  base  designs  against  the 
peace  or  prosperity  of  the  Michigan  Central  Railroad 
Company.  A  long  freight  train  was  drawn  up  on  a  siding, 
and  although  it  had  a  locomotive  at  neither  end  it  was 
plainly  on  its  journey  westward,  for  the  conductor's  ca- 
boose, most  uncomfortable  of  travelling  vehicles,  was  at- 
tached to  the  portion  nearest  Detroit.  The  engine  had 
taken  a  little  excursion  of  its  own  to  the  water  tank,  that 
dungeon  keep  of  modern  architecture,  and  there  was  en- 
joying a  drink,  the  stalwart  fireman  in  greasy  overalls, 
standing  on  the  heap  of  coal  that  filled  the  tender,  holding 
down  a  rope  that  allowed  the  water  to  pour  from  a 
voluminous  spout  into  the  thirsty  receptacle. 

Darkness  had  not  yet  fallen,  for  summer  days  are  long, 
and  in  the  twilight  there  was  danger  of  being  seen  if  any 
attempt  was  made  to  board  the  standing  train ;  but  ouo 
young  men  were  adepts  at  the  tramp's  method  of  getting 
a  free  ride,  and  they  sauntered  down  the  track  on  the  op- 
posite side  of  the  freight  train  from  the  station  building, 
where,  in  all  probability  the  conductor  was  getting  any 
orders  that  the  telegraph  operator  might  have  to  give  him. 
It  was  not  the  conductor  that  they  feared,  but  some  brake- 
man  who  might  appear  suddenly  from  under  the  train,  or 
from  between  the  cars,  examining  a  suspected  coupling, 
or  mending  a  defective  brake.  At  last  the  searching  eye 
of  Jim  Monro  caught  sight  of  a  partly  open  door  of  an 
empty  grain  car,  and  casting  a  rapid  glance  up  and  down 
the  train,  seeing  the  coast  was  clear,  he  pushed  the  slid- 
130 


"Rides  the  wild  mare  with  the  boys"     131 

ing  door  still  further  open  and  lightly  leaped  up  into  the 
interior  of  the  dark  car.  Turning  and  extending  a  quick 
hand  to  Ben,  he  speedily  hauled  his  comrade  up  beside 
him,  and  then  they  pushed  the  door  completely  shut. 

"  Hadn't  we  better  leave  it  slightly  open  as  we  found 
it  ?  "  suggested  Ben. 

"  I  think  not.  It's  not  likely  the  train  hands  will  no- 
tice, and  we're  safer  from  observation  if  it's  shut.  Be- 
sides, an  open  door  will  be  a  standing  invitation  for  other 
tramps  all  the  way  to  Chicago." 

They  sat  together  in  a  dark  corner,  not  daring  to  con- 
verse further,  as  some  murmur  of  their  talk  might  reach 
ears  outside,  until  a  jolt  of  the  car  informed  them  that  the 
locomotive  was  again  in  its  place  and  was  backing  up 
ready  for  the  westward  advance.  A  moment  later, 
with  a  metallic  clink,  clink,  clink  of  tightening  couplers 
the  train  was  under  way,  then  tired  with  their  walk  and 
the  scarcely  less  fatiguing  anxiety  of  safely  boarding  the 
train,  they  stretched  out  at  full  length  on  the  hard  spring- 
less  floor  and  presently  slept  more  soundly  perhaps  than 
many  who  had  that  night  paid  two  dollars  for  a  berth  in 
a  Pullman.  Youth,  health  and  weariness  make  a  wonder- 
ful soporific  mixture. 

Two  or  three  times  during  the  night  one  or  other  of 
them  woke  up  and  found  the  train  sometimes  standing 
still,  sometimes  jogging  along,  but  in  no  case  were  they 
interfered  with.  Their  bones  ached,  and  they  tried  new 
positions,  sinking  immediately  into  slumber  again,  which 
was  a  blessing.  Sometimes  they  were*  drowsily  conscious 
in  the  hollow  sounding  cavern  of  the  car  of  quick  foot- 
steps on  the  slightly  arched  roof  above  them  and  the 
screech  of  the  twisted  brake.  Again  there  dashed 
through  their  dreams  with  a  whoop  ana  roar  a  fast  ex- 
press, the  clang  of  bell  or  the  shriek  of  whistle,  swelling 
into  a  climax  of  fierce  sound,  then  suddenly  lessening  and 
lowering  in  tone  as  it  hurried  eastward,  giving  somehow 
the  idea  of  illimitable  and  desperate  speed.  Throughout 
the  night  the  turmoil  of  the  journey  was  frequently  in- 
terrupted by  seemingly  interminable  periods  of  rest  and 
quiet,  during  which  their  slumber  became  deeper ;  then  a 


132  The  Victors 

series  of  joltsbrought  them  nearto  the  surface  of  wakeful- 
ness.  They  were  dimly  conscious  that  the  train  came  to  a 
large  town,  with  its  accompanying  noise  of  numerous 
shunting  engines  and  the  laboured  breathing  of  the  air- 
brake pump  on  some  locomotive  standing  at  the  head  of 
a  passenger  train.  The  sound  of  voices  in  peremptory,  de- 
cisive outdoor  tones  disturbed  without  waking  them.  The 
questions  asked  were  often  drowsily  answered  by  the 
sleepers. 

"  Give  her  a  kick  back,  Jim,"  commanded  someone 
just  outside  the  half-inch  boards  of  the  car,  and  Monro 
sat  up  suddenly,  replying  "  All  right,"  before  he  began  to 
wonder  what  a  "  kick-back  "  was.  The  meaning  of  the 
phrase  was  exemplified  by  an  earthquake  jolt  eastward 
that  nearly  laid  him  prostrate  again,  and  luckily  his  own 
answer  to  the  command  had  not  been  heard  by  the  man 
outside.  He  was  mistily  aware  that  there  was  a  heated 
discussion  about  three  cars  that  were  to  be  left  at  Jackson, 
and  murmured  that  he  had  mislaid  them  or  had  given 
them  to  Maguire,  he  could  not  at  the  moment  remember 
which.  Then  came  complete  oblivion,  broken  at  last  by 
an  awakening  that  seemed  to  have  a  satisfying  sensation 
of  finality  about  it.  For  a  moment  the  belief  that  they 
had  been  side-tracked  was  so  strong  upon  him  that  it  was 
some  time  before  he  was  aware  of  the  continued  rumble  of 
the  train.  He  knew  it  must  be  near  morning,  although 
there  was  still  no  glimmer  of  daylight  through  the  chink 
at  the  door. 

"  Awake,  Ben  ?  "  he  asked,  softly,  that  he  might  not 
arouse  his  fellow-traveller  should  he  be  really  asleep. 

"Yes.     It  must  be  near  morning,  don't  you  think?" 

"  Seems  as  if  it  was  the  day  after  to-morrow  by  the 
way  my  bones  feel.  How  did  you  make  it  during  the 
night?  Sleep  any?" 

"  I  guess  so.  Seemed  to  wake  up  every  time  we 
stopped,  but  perhaps  I  didn't.  I  ache  as  if  I  had  had 
a  kicking.  I  wonder  where  we  are.  Better  slide  open 
the  door  a  bit  and  see  if  you  can  smell  Lake  Michigan." 

"  Oh,  we  can't  be  that  far  west.''  said  Jim,  pushing  open 
the  door  and  letting  in  the  cool,  fresh  breeze.  "  It's  light- 


"Rides  the  wild  mare  with  the  boys"      133 

ening  in  the  east,  so  we  must  have  got  the  back  of  the 
journey  to  Chicago  pretty  well  broken." 

"  Shut  the  door  again,  Jimmy.     We're  slowing  up." 

Monro  closed  the  door,  and  shortly  afterward  the  train 
came  to  a  standstill  at  a  way  station,  and  the  boys  judged 
by  the  tramp  of  feet  on  a  platform  that  their  car  was  dan- 
gerously near  to  the  freight  house,  therefore  all  conversa- 
tion ceased  between  them. 

"  Why  can't  I  go  on  this  train  ?  "  they  heard  an  angry 
voice  ask. 

"  Because  you  can't,"  was  the  brief  and  conclusive  an- 
swer. 

"  But,  look  here,  station-master,  listen  to  reason.  I'll 
make  it  worth  your  while.  I've  simply  got  to  be  in  Chi- 
cago early.  It's  all  right  enough  to  tell  me  to  wait  for  a 
local,  but  the  local  won't  get  me  there  in  time." 

"  I'm  sorry,  but  1  can't  help  it." 

"  Why,  yes,  you  can,  if  you  like."  The  voice  had  lost 
its  truculence  and  was  now  trying  persuasion.  "  You 
can  let  me  get  into  this  caboose.  I  won't  hurt  it,  and  the 
luxury  of  the  car  won't  hurt  me." 

"  Now,  you  know,  as  well  as  I  do,  that  passengers  are 
not  allowed  to  ride  on  freight  trains,  and  I  haven't  the 
power  to  give  you  a  permit,  and  if  I  did  give  you  one  the 
conductor  would  be  bound  to  put  you  off,  so  there  ain't  no 
good  saying  any  more  about  it." 

"Who  has  power?" 

"  The  superintendent  of.  the  road." 

"  Can  I  reach  him  by  telegraph  ?  " 

"  Not  at  this  hour." 

"  Well,  I  call  it  an  outrage  that  a  man  is  dumped  clown 
here  at  this  God-forsaken  hole,  with  no  connecting  trains 
to  any  civilised  place  on  earth." 

The  anger  was  returning.  The  speaker  seemed  to  be 
unaccustomed  to  contradiction. 

"  Well,  this  road  ain't  responsible  for  your  being 
dumped  down  here.  We  don't  run  the  B,  X  &  O,  and 
have  no  connections  with  it." 

"  You  don't  seem  to  run  much  of  anything  from  this 
station.  Now,  I  tell  you,  you  won't  lose  a  cent  by  let- 


134  The  Victors 

ting  me  get  to  Chicago  in  time.  Here's  my  card.  Why, 
hang  it,  I  Know  the  Vanderbilts." 

"  Oh,  everybody  that  wants  anything  from  me  is  per- 
sonal friends  of  the  Vanderbilts.  I  don't  know  'em  my- 
self, but  I  know  enough  to  obey  their  orders.  No,  sir, 
I  don't  want  your  card." 

At  this  juncture  the  conductor  strolled  up  from  the 
faraway  caboose. 

"  Hello,  Tom;  how's  No.  9?     On  time?  " 

"About  eight  minutes  late,  Bill." 

"  What's  No.  9  ?  "  asked  the  stranger.  "  A  passenger 
train?" 

"  Somewhat.  No.  9's  the  Pacific  express.  This  freight 
train's  side-tracked  to  give  her  right  of  way." 

"  Well,  can't  you  flag  the  express  for  me?  I'll  make  it 
all  right  with  the  superintendent." 

The  station-agent  seemed  to  regard  this  proposition  as 
so  insultingly  absurd  that  it  required  no  answer.  The 
lantern  hanging  looped  from  the  conductor's  elbow,  shin- 
ing on  the  agent's  face,  showed  an  expression  of  wearied 
disgust. 

"  Come  inside,  Bill,"  said  the  tired  man.  The  con- 
ductor, not  having  been  burdened  with  so  many  impos- 
sible requests,  and  having  the  natural  sympathy  of  a 
travelled  man  for  a  stranger  stranded  on  this  out-of-the- 
way  shore,  which  the  local  man  did  not  feel — it  was  his 
home — threw  in  a  word  of  advice  as  he  followed  his  fel- 
low-official : 

"  You'd  better  go  up  to  the  hotel  and  get  a  little  sleep. 
You  can't  get  to  Chicago  till  the  local  comes  along." 

The  hint,  friendly  on  the  part  of  the  giver  and  unap- 
preciated by  the  receiver,  was  not  followed — the  usual 
fate  of  disinterested  counsel.  The  stranger,  left  alone  on 
the  platform,  relieved  his  feelings  by  swearing  a  little, 
then  he  walked  along  the  train  as  if  he  meditated  get- 
ting into  the  conductor's  car  and  trusting  to  bribery  for 
the  rest.  Ben,  ever  ready  to  help  a  man  in  a  hole,  slid 
open  the  door  of  the  grain  car  and  startled  the  stranger 
with  a  hoarse  stage  whisper. 

"  It's  no  use,  sir.     They're  bound  to  throw  you  off  if 


"Rides  the  wild  mare  with  the  boys"      135 

you  risk  the  caboose.  Nip  in  here  with  us,  and  you'll 
get  to  Chicago  in  the  morning,  if  you  don't  mind  roughing 
it." 

The  stranger  glanced  quickly  and  nervously  up  and 
down  the  track.  All  was  clear,  but  there  was  not  a  mo- 
ment to  be  lost,  for  afar  in  the  east,  glimmering  like  a 
morning  star,  blazed  the  headlight  of  the  express.  The 
new  passenger  decided  quickly,  threw  his  valise  into  the 
box  car,  grasped  Ben's  outstretched  hand  and  sprang  up 
beside  him.  Ben  drew  the  door  shut. 

"  We  heard  you  talk  with  the  station-agent,"  he  said  in 
a  tone  that  was  half  apologetic,  "  and  as  our  own  talk 
might  be  overheard  as  well  we'd  better  not  say  anything 
till  the  train  pulls  out." 

"  All  right." 

A  moment  later  the  express  came  through  with  an 
earthquake  roar  that  made  the  standing  train  tremble. 
In  the  ensuing  silence  they  heard  the  conductor  and  sta- 
tion-agent comment  on  the  disappearance  of  their  ques- 
tioner. 

"  I  guess  he's  gone  to  the  hotel,"  said  the  conductor. 
"  I  advised  him  to." 

"  He's  a  friend  of  the  Vanderbilts,  he  tells  me,"  com- 
mented the  agent.  "  And  I  says  to  him,  '  The  woods  are 
full  of  them.' ' 

Here  the  conversation  was  broken  by  the  slow,  jerky, 
jangling  movement  of  the  freight  train.  Jim  slid  the 
door  partly  open  when  they  were  free  of  the  station  and 
displayed  the  gradually  lightening  landscape. 

"  How  consequential  an  official  becomes  out  here  in  the 
backwoods,"  said  the  stranger,  apparently  nettled  by  the 
contemptuous,  sneering  reference  to  his  acquaintance  with 
the  eastern  magnates.  "  A  man  at  the  head  of  some  en- 
terprise as  important  as  an  average  empire  would  not  be 
so  inflexible  as  this  station-master.  Indeed,  the  Vander- 
bilts themselves  are  simple,  unassuming  people,  who 
would  be  glad  to  grant  a  favour  to  a  traveller  if  the 
chance  came  their  way,  amazed  as  this  autocrat  of  a 
shanty  might  be  to  learn  the  fact." 

"  I'm  afraid  you  don't  make  allowance  for  the  subor- 


136  The  Victors 

dinate  position  of  those  in  the  backwoods,"  commented 
Ben,  ever  ready  to  speak  a  good  word  for  the  under  dog. 
"  A  man  at  the  head  of  affairs  may  make  a  concession 
without  a  thought  that  would  cost  an  understrapper  his 
place.  The  bread  and  butter  of  our  friend  in  the  rear, 
not  to  mention  his  chance  of  promotion,  depend  on  his 
doing  pretty  strictly  what  he  is  ordered  to  do." 

"  That's  so.  You're  right."  There  was  an  inflection 
of  surprise  in  the  stranger's  voice,  as  if  he  had  not  ex- 
pected a  response  so  sensible,  couched  in  simple  language 
that  nevertheless  gave  token  of  education.  He  associ- 
ated box  cars  with  tattered,  ignorant  tramps,  and  already 
had  begun  to  doubt  the  wisdom  of  his  precipitate  entrance 
into  a  black  perambulating  cavern  containing  two  un- 
known individuals,  who  might  become  embarrassing  or 
exacting  acquaintances.  The  increasing  light  dissipated 
not  only  the  darkness,  but  his  apprehensions  as  well. 

"  How  is  it  you  two  are  travelling  in  this  way?  "  asked 
the  stranger.  "  There  is  nothing  of  the  tramp  about 
either  of  you,  or  I  am  no  judge  of  my  fellow-men." 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know.  Appearances  are  deceptive.  I'm 
rather  afraid  we  might  justly  be  catalogued  as  tramps. 
We  have  been  trudging  over  the  country  trying  to  ped- 
dle." 

"  We're  a  nation  of  pedlars ;  we  have  all  something  to 
sell.  I  am,  in  a  way,  a  pedlar  myself.  Are  you  out 
of  cash?" 

"  No.     Are  you  ?  "     The  stranger  laughed. 

"  I  guess  I've  enough  to  get  breakfast  when  we  reach 
Cnicago." 

"  So  have  we." 

"  Then  we're  all  in  the  same  box.  Touring  capi- 
talists." 

"  In  the  same  box  car  anyhow,"  put  in  Jim. 

"  I  don't  know  much  about  this  style  of  travelling,  but 
I  suggest  that  you  close  that  door  and  take  in  your  dan- 
gling legs.  It's  a  good  position  for  viewing  the  scenery, 
but  as  we  pass  through  some  station  the  rigid  man  on 
duty  may  see  you,  telegraph  ahead,  and  get  us  into  trou- 
ble at  our  next  stop.  I  confess  I  don't  want  to  figure  in 
the  police  courts  charged,  with  stealing  a  ride," 


"Rides  the  wild  mare  with  the  boys "      137 

"  That  isn't  a  bad  idea,"  assented  Jim,  pulling  in  his 
legs  and  sliding  the  door  until  it  was  almost  shut. 
"  We've  got  further  west  than  I  thought.  We're  just 
coming  on  those  sand  hills  .near  the  lake." 

''  May  we  not  have  trouble  getting  out  of  this  ?  What 
happens  when  we  reach  the  depot  at  Chicago  ?  " 

"  We  don't  go  near  the  depot.  This  train  will  pull  up 
in  the  yards  some  miles  out.  No,  I  don't  think  we'll  have 
any  trouble.  Have  to  watch  out  a  bit,  that's  all.  Then, 
once  clear  of  the  yard,  we  can  get  a  street  car  into  town." 

"  Well,  gentlemen,  as  the  politicians  say,  I'm  in  the 
hands  of  my  friends.  This  is  rather  out  of  my  line,  so 
I'll  do  just  what  you  tell  me  to  do,  and  if,  in  spite  of  the 
best  intentions,  luck  proves  against  us,  we'll  stand  or  fall 
together.  Once  clear  of  the  yard,  as  you  say,  I  hope  you 
will  consent  to  become  my  guests,  in  which  case  I  can 
guarantee  you  a  good  breakfast." 

"  That's  all  right,"  said  Jim.  "  Speaking  for  myself,  I'll 
enjoy  it,  for  we  have  had  nothing  to  eat  since  yesterday 
noon." 

"  Heavens,  you  must  be  hungry.  How  did  that  come 
about?" 

"  Mainly  through  the  negligence  of  the  Michigan  Cen- 
tral in  not  running  dining  cars  on  their  freight  trains. 
We  had  no  time  for  supper  at  Ann  Arbor,  and  have  had 
time  enough,  but  no  chance,  since." 

"  You  came  from  Ann  Arbor,  then.     College  men  ?  " 

"  In  a  kind  of  a  way,  yes,  but  not  from  the  University 
of  Michigan.  We  were  graduated  a  few  months  ago, 
after  a  four  years'  course  in  Stormboro,  111.,  took  to  ped- 
dling, failed,  and  are  now  working  our  way  back  there 
to  get  a  fresh  start." 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do?  " 

"  We're  willing  to  do  anything  that's  reasonably  honest 
and  decidedly  lucrative." 

"  I'm  a  Yale  man  myself,  but  have  been  away  from 
there  long  enough  to  learn  something.  Now  here's  a 
thing  not  taught  at  Yale,  and  possibly  ignored  in  centres 
of  learning  and  education  further  west.  A  man  willing  to 
do  anything  is  not  worth  a  damn.  The  woods  are  full  of 


138  The  Victors 

them,  as  the  station-agent  said  of  the  friends  of  the  Van- 
derbilts,  and  a  futile  lot  they  are.  No,  sir.  The  man 
who  succeeds  is  the  man  who  is  not  willing  to  do  any- 
thing, but  is  able  to  do  some  one  thing  and  do  it  better 
than  anybody  else.  This  country  is  shouting  for  special- 
ists. The  very  first  thing  for  a  young  man  to  do  is  to 
choose  his  line,  then  stick  to  it,  qualify  himself  to  handle 
that  line  better  than  anybody  else  can  handle  it,  and  if  he 
has  chosen  wisely  he  will  succeed  as  far  as  the  limits  of 
the  business  will  allow  him  to  go.  Of  course,  if  he 
adopts  some  course  that  has  no  future  to  it,  something 
where  energy  and  concentration  of  attention  will  not 
force  expansion,  he  can't  expect  big  dividends ;  but  every- 
thing is  growing  in  this  country;  conditions  are  changing 
and  changing  rapidly.  That's  what  gives  a  young  man 
his  chance.  Let  him  jump  into  something  that  has  a 
right  of  way  before  it,  and  he's  bound  to  become  a^mil- 
lionaire." 

"  Talk  is  cheap !  "  cried  Jim,  irritated  by  the  easy  con- 
fidence of  a  man  who  was  evidently  rich  and  who  had 
had  advantages  at  the  beginning  which  were  denied  to  his 
poverty-stricken  listeners.  "  Nominally  the  choice  of 
any  business  in  the  United  States  is  open  to  us.  Prac- 
tically no  such  choice  is  allowed.  We  have  so  little 
money  that  we  are  now  stealing  a  ride  to  save  it.  What 
can  we  do?  We  must  live,  and  in  order  to  live  we  must 
sell  our  liberty  and  work  for  someone  who  has  money. 
If  we  happen  to  strike  an  employer  who  appreciates  the 
qualities  we  have  to  sell,  then  we  may  get  on  slowly.  If 
not,  we  have  to  slave  along  until  we  get  another  chance. 
Nothing  makes  me  so  tired  as  to  read  interviews  with 
men  who  have  succeeded,  probably  by  great  good  luck  if 
the  truth  were  known,  who  then  pose  as  having  done  it  all 
themselves,  ignoring  circumstances  that  went  to  their 
enrichment." 

"  I  don't  quite  see  the  point  you  are  trying  to  make.'' 
''  The  point  is  this.  You  went  to  Yale.  Very  well. 
That  means  that  you  had  a  father  or  someone  else  who 
put  up  the  money  for  you.  I'll  bet  you  didn't  work  as  a 
hired  man  to  accumulate  the  cash  that  was  to  send  you 
through  college.  We  did." 


"Rides  the  wild  mare  with  the  boys"      139 

"  Very  creditable  to  you.  The  day  before  I  left  Yale 
I  was  getting  up  a  party  of  my  friends  to  go  as  my  guests 
on  my  father's  steam  yacht  that  cost  just  under  a  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars." 

"  Well,  we  couldn't  have  taken  our  friends  for  an  ex- 
cursion in  a  dugout  canoe.  You  must  admit  that  the  con- 
ditions were  a  trifle  different." 

"  Slightly.  Still  if  you  look  up  my  name  to-day  in 
Bradstreet  you  will  find  me  rated  at  $5,000,000.  I  am 
double  your  age,  and  possess  that  much  in  money  or  its 
equivalent.  I  don't  say  this  by  way  of  boasting ;  I  merely 
offer  it  as  evidence  that  I  know  what  I'm  talking  of  when 
I  venture  to  give  advice  about  getting  on  in  the  world, 
and  that  therefore  my  opinion  is  entitled  to  a  certain 
amount  of  attention." 

"  My  dear  sir,  the  conditions  are  so  totally  dissimilar 
that,  without  meaning  any  disrespect,  they  largely  dis- 
count the  value  of  your  opinion." 

Jim  spoke  with  manifest  warmth,  but  the  stranger  re- 
mained imperturbable.  His  voice  never  raised  a  semitone 
above  its  calm,  normal  level.  He  sat  on  his  valise  and 
regarded  his  excited  interlocutor  with  a  slightly  amused 
air  of  tolerance  that  seemed  more  than  his  words  to  pro- 
voke the  young  man.  Jim  had  his  legs  curled  up  under 
him,  Turkish  fashion,  and  was  jabbing  the  blade  of  his 
open  knife  into  the  floor  of  the  car.  Ben  took  no  part  in 
the  controversy,  but  listened  intently  to  every  word  of  it, 
his  gaze  fastened  on  the  face  of  the  stranger,  a  face  keen 
and  clear  cut,  almost  boyish  in  appearance,  although  the 
effect  of  youth  was  mitigated  by  a  touch  of  grey  at  the 
temples.  The  otherwise  dark  hair  was  closely  cropped. 
The  finely  chiselled  firm  lips  were  softened  by  the  eva- 
nescent suggestion  of  a  smile. 

"  My  young  friend,  you  shouldn't  jump  at  conclusions. 
You  never  can  be  sure  where  you  will  land.  You  worked 
as  hired  man  and  thus  got  the  money  that  put  you 
through  a  cheap  college.  The  toil  and  the  ambition  were 
alike  creditable  to  you,  as  I  have  said,  and  right  here 
make  a  note  of  it  that  there  was  where  you  had  your 
first  advantage  over  me,  You  were  graduated.  I  was 


140  The  Victors 

not.  That  is,  perhaps,  another  advantage.  When  I  had  got 
my  yachting  party  together  news  came  to  me  of  the 
failure  of  my  father,  and  the  newsof  his  failure  was  simul- 
taneous with  the  news  of  his  death  by  his  own  hand. 
He  was  supposed  to  be  one  of  the  richest  men  in  Xew 
York,  but  the  storm  of  a  financial  crisis  struck  him,  and 
his  going  down  was  the  precursor  of  many  another  wreck, 
and  the  inauguration  of  one  of  the  worst  monetary  panics 
from  which  America  has  ever  suffered.  Xow,  try  to  ap- 
preciate the  situation.  I  was  the  useless  son  of  a  supposed 
millionaire,  accustomed  to  the  lavish  spending  of  money, 
with  no  more  knowledge  of  making  it  than  Cleopatra 
had.  I  could  handle  a  yacht,  could  row  in  a  boat,  pos- 
sessed some  experience  in  athletics,  but  I  had  not  a  single 
useful  bit  of  craft  knowledge  for  which  any  sane  man 
would  have  paid  me  fifty  cents  a  day.  Here  again  you 
had  the  advantage  of  me.  Rich  friends  ?  Plenty  of  them, 
I  thought.  A  week  before  and  my  card  would  have  got 
me  entrance  into  the  private  room  of  any  banker  in  New 
York,  now  the  name  of  Mitchell  was  a  scoff  and  a  by- 
word across  the  broad  American  continent.  My  father 
was  supposed  to  be  the  head  and  front  of  all  the  trouble ; 
his  reputation  was  rent  to  rags  in  every  paper  in  the  coun- 
try. Of  all  my  acquaintances  I  perhaps  knew  least  of 
him,  and  he  had  never  had  time  to  seek  any  knowledge  of 
me ;  but  I  am  sure  he  was  no  more  to  blame  than  many 
others  for  the  crisis.  The  business  world  was  honey- 
combed with  over-speculation  and  the  crash  had  to  come, 
but,  according  to  the  press,  it  was  all  Mitchell's  fault,  and 
his  suicide  was  taken  as  a  confession. 

"  I  soon  discovered  that  I  hadn't  a  friend,  and  this  is 
partly  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  most  of  those  I 
knew  were  in  the  same  line  as  my  father,  or  in  business 
closely  associated,  and  were  hard  hit,  many  of  them  going 
under  themselves  and  therefore  in  no  mood  to  help  a  use- 
less young  man,  even  if  they  were  in  a  position  to  do  so.  I 
found  most  doors  closed  to  me,  and  if  by  any  chance  I 
was  allowed  to  see  the  man  on  whom  I  called  I  soon  real- 
ised that  he  looked  on  me  as  a  cumberer  of  the  earth  to 
whom  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  lend  five  dollars  if  a 


"  Rides  the  wild  mare  with  the  boys  "     141 

strong  enough  appeal  was  urged  upon  his  attention.  But 
I  did  not  want  to  borrow — I  wanted  a  job.  I  learned 
gradually  that  all  these  men  looked  with  contempt  upon 
one  who  had  only  a  college  training  to  recommend  him, 
and  this  seemed  illogical,  for  all  of  them  were  sending 
their  own  sons  to  one  university  or  another.  If  I  could 
have  said  that  I  never  saw  a  college  but  that  I  had  made 
fifty  thousand  dollars  in  a  deal,  they  might  have  paid 
much  more  heed  to  my  application  for  work.  All  hope 
of  getting  a  secretaryship,  a  place  in  a  bank  or  such  like 
genteel  occupation  vanished  from  my  mind.  My  re- 
sources were  almost  at  an  end  when  I  bethought  myself 
of  a  man  in  Connecticut,  at  whose  palatial  residence  I 
had  once  spent  a  vacation,  the  guest  of  his  son,  who,  by 
the  way,  was  to  have  been  one  of  the  members  of  my 
yachting  party.  Old  Bonsel  was  a  carriage  manufacturer 
in  a  large  way  and  was  rich,  although  not  in  the  same 
category  of  wealth  that  my  father  had  been  supposed  to 
occupy.  I  figured  out  that,  being  a  manufacturer,  he  was 
not  so  likely  to  be  affected  by  the  panic  as  the  financial 
magnates  of  the  metropolis,  and  that  I  would  therefore 
have  more  chance  with  him.  In  social  life  he  had  seemed 
to  me  a  bluff,  honest  sort  of  man,  a  little  too  fond  of 
boasting  how  well  he  had  made  his  own  way  in  the  world, 
yet  exceedingly  glad  that  his  son  and  I  were  friends.  I 
had  had  many  pressing  invitations  to  visit  him. 

"  I  reached  his  factory  almost  without  a  cent  in  my 
pocket,  and  having  sent  in  my  name  to  Mr.  Bonsel  I  was 
kept  waiting  for  nearly  an  hour  in  the  outer  office,  which 
did  not  strike  me  as  encouraging.  At  last  I  was  shown 
in,  and  the  portly,  successful  carriage-builder,  turning 
slowly  round  in  his  office-chair,  looked  me  over  from  head 
to  foot  and  from  foot  to  head,  then  said : 

"  '  Well,  young  man,  what  can  I  do  for  you? ' 
"  'You  have  large  works  here,  Mr.  Bonsel,  so  I  thought 
perhaps  you  could  give  me  a  job  in  some  portion  of 
them.' 

'  You  are  right,  they  are  large.  I  own  them  and  I  be- 
gan in  a  one-roomed  carpenter  shop,  with  no  college  edu- 
cation either.  There  are  two  buildings,  each  three  hun* 


142  The  Victors 

dred  feet  long  and  three  stories  high.  There  are  ninety 
thousand  square  feet  of  floor  space,  all  busy  with  capable 
men  and  the  most  effective  kind  of  machinery.  What 
particular  ten  square  feet  of  that  space  do  you  feel  your- 
self fitted  to  occupy  ?  ' 

'  You  mean,  in  short,  what  can  I  do?  Well,  Mr.  Bon- 
sel,  I'm  willing  to  do  anything.' 

"  The  old  man  brought  his  fist  down  on  his  desk  and 
gave  expression  to  the  remark  which  disturbed  you  a 
short  time  ago.  He  said  the  man  willing  to  do  anything 
was  not  worth  his  salt,  and  the  offensive  way  he  said  it 
made  me  angry,  helpless  as  I  was. 

Look  here,  Mr.  Bonsel ;  a  hundred  years  from  to-day 
you'll  be  dead,  but  they  will  be  making  carriages  just  the 
same.  The  men  who  will  be  making  those  carriages  are 
not  yet  born,  but  they  will  learn.  I'm  ready  to  learn.' 

"  My  anger  increased  his.  He  got  red  in  the  face.  Few 
of  us  like  to  admit  that  we  are  going  to  die,  and  that  the 
world  will  get  on  very  well  without  us,  especially  if  we 
are  important  personages  in  our  locality,  as  he  was. 

"  '  You  impudent  young  whelp,'  he  cried.  '  That's 
college  manners,  I  suppose.' 

"  '  Not  so,  sir.  It  is  an  eternal  fact,  true  before  colleges 
were  thought  of ;  a  fact  which  will  remain  true  after  the 
university  has  been  eliminated  from  the  face  of  the 
earth.' 

" '  You  can  learn,  can  you  ?  Very  well.  I'll  give  you 
permission  to  enter  my  works  as  an  apprentice,  if  you 
have  any  one  to  support  you  while  you  are  learning,  for 
we  give  no  wages  the  first  year.' 

"  '  No.  I  can't  do  that.  I  must  have  wages.  That's 
what  I'm  here  for.' 

"  '  Then  answer  my  question.    What  can  you  do  ?  ' 

"  The  old  man  brought  his  fist  down  on  the  desk  again 
at  the  word  '  do,'  and  seemed  to  think  he  had  ended  the 
matter.  I  have  since  thought  that  his  bluster  was  largely 
due  to  the  stirring  of  a  partially  extinct  conscience.  The 
text  '  Am  I  my  brother's  keeper  ? '  must  have  been 
vaguely  echoing  somewhere  in  his  brain,  for  I  had  been 
a  guest  in  his  house,  and  after  all  I  was  only  asking  a 


"  Rides  the  wild  mare  with  the  boys  '*     143 

chance  to  earn  my  bread.  I  was  not  using  my  knowledge 
of  his  residence  to  burglarise  it.  On  my  part  I  vaguely 
understood  that  I  was  being  asked  the  universal  question, 
and  my  answer  to  it  was  far  from  complete.  What  could 
I  do?  with  a  strong  emphasis  on  the  last  word. 

"  As  I  came  in,  or  rather  during  my  long  term  of  wait- 
ing I  noticed  a  broom  standing  in  the  corner,  and  since  en- 
tering I  had  seen  that  the  office  was  not  kept  as  spick  and 
span  as  most  New  York  offices  I  was  acquainted  with.  I 
turned  without  a  word  and  went  to  the  door.  I  heard  the 
old  man  laugh  in  an  uneasy  sort  of  way,  as  if  glad  to  be 
at  last  rid  of  me,  and  yet  not  comfortable  at  his  success  in 
the  clearance.  I  returned,  however,  a  moment  later,  with 
the  broom  in  my  hand,  and  began  to  sweep,  raising  a 
dust  that  made  the  old  carriage-builder  wheeze  and  cough 
and  choke,  sputtering  and  sneezing,  trying  to  speak  and 
not  succeeding,  while  the  room  was  speedily  in  a  haze  of 
dust.  At  last  he  roared : 

"  '  What  the  devil  do  you  mean  by  that,  sir?  Are  you 
here  to  insult  me  in  my  own  office,  or  have  you  gone 
crazy  ? ' 

"  '  Neither,  sir.  I  want  to  show  you  two  things.  First, 
how  badly  kept  your  private  room  is ;  second,  that  I  can 
sweep.  There's  one  answer  to  your  question.  I  can 
sweep  and  do  it  better  than  the  capable  person  who  is 
occupying  this  particular  ten  square  feet  of  space  in  your 
ninety  thousand.' 

"  The  old  man  pondered  over  this  for  a  few  moments, 
but  I  could  not  flatter  myself  that  there  was  any  melting 
in  his  attitude  toward  me.  However,  he  called  for  a 
clerk  and  held  a  brief  consultation  with  him.  My  heart 
jumped,  thinking  I  was  going  to  get  a  desk  in  the  large 
outer  office,  filled  with  young  men  and  a  sprinkling  of 
older  ones.  When  the  clerk  went  out  Bonsel  turned  to 
me  and  said : 

"  '  Then  you  are  willing  to  take  the  job  of  sweeping  out 
the  offices  ? ' 

"  '  Yes,  or  the  whole  building.' 

"  '  I  can  do  better  than  that  for  you.  We  are  in  need  of 
a  hand  or  two  in  the  paint  shop.  I  suppose  you  can  at 


144  The  Victors 

least  do  the  priming  as  well  as  anybody  else.  It  doesn't 
require  any  brains,  only  the  wagging  of  a  paint  brush. 
But  that  brush  has  to  wag  right  along  during  working 
hours.  I  don't  have  any  loafers  about  these  premises.' 

"  '  All  right,  sir,  and  thank  you.' 

"  '  The  wages  will  be  six  dollars  a  week.  Is  that  sat- 
isfactory ? ' 

"  '  Quite.' 

"  '  You  will  understand  that  your  remaining  here  or 
your  advancement  in  my  shop  will  depend  entirely  on 
yourself.  If  the  foreman  bounces  you  the  bouncing  will 
doubtless  be  for  good  cause,  and  there  is  no  use  in  coming 
whining  to  me  for  reinstatement.' 

"  '  I  shall  not  ask  you  to  interfere.' 

"  '  I  have  just  sent  for  the  foreman  of  the  priming  de- 
partment in  the  paint  shop,  so  that  you  will  hear  exactly 
what  I  say  to  him  concerning  you,  and  thus  there  won't 
be  any  mistake.' 

"  '  An  excellent  and  straightforward  plan,  sir.' 

"  '  You  came  to  me ;  I  didn't  send  for  you,  so  perhaps  it 
will  not  be  necessary  to  say  that  at  my  house  we  do  not 
recognise  the  paint-shop.  Understand  what  I  mean  ?  ' 

"  '  Perfectly,  and  I  am  very  glad  such  is  the  rule,  for  I 
sold  my  last  dress  suit  in  order  to  get  the  money  to 
come  here.' 

"  At  this  point  Billy  Laffin  came  in,  holding  his  cap  in 
his  hand.  He  was  the  foreman  of  the  priming  department 
in  the  paint  shop  and  an  unmistakable  Irishman,  with  a 
tuft  of  chin  whiskers  that  was,  perhaps,  intended  to  give 
him  an  Uncle  Sam  air,  but  which,  somehow,  spoke  more 
eloquently  of  the  Emerald  Isle  than  any  other  feature  of 
his  face,  unless  it  was  his  long,  smoothly  shaven  upper  lip. 
Humble  as  was  his  demeanour  in  the  eyes  of  the  boss  he 
cast  a  glance  at  me  which  showed  me  in  an  instant  that 
here  was  a  man  who  could  make  it  pretty  nasty  for  me, 
and  probably  would.  I  say,  boys,  I'm  making  too  long  a 
story  of  this.  A  man  gets  garrulous  when  he  spins  a  yarn 
about  himself,  showing  our  natural  conceit.  I'll  cut  the 
cackle,  as  the  saying  is." 

"  No,  no,"  cried  Ben  eagerly,  speaking  for  the  first 


"  Rides  the  wild  mare  with  the  boys  "    145 

time.  "  It's  the  most  interesting"  story  I've  ever  listened 
to.  Yes,  more  interesting  than  anything  I  have  ever 
read — just  the  kind  of  talk  I  want  to  hear.  Don't  omit  the 
slightest  detail." 

"  I  second  that,"  said  Jim.  "  It  fits  us  like  a  coat  cut  to 
measure,  and  I  take  advantage  of  the  lull  to  apologise  for 
what  I  said  about  your  having  had  a  better  start  than  we 
have." 

"  Well,  the  monotony  of  the  journey  may  excuse  the 
length  of  the  story.  Old  Bonsel  said  to  his  foreman, 
'  Laffin,  this  young  chap  is  just  out  of  college,  and  he 
wants  a  job  in  the  paint  shop.  He's  to  get  six  dollars  a 
week — if  he  shows  that  he  is  worth  ten  dollars  to  the 
shop.  I  want  you  to  understand  that  although  I  put  him 
in  the  place  I  don't  keep  him  there.  Whether  he  stays 
or  not  depends  entirely  on  whether  or  not  he  is  worth 
more  than  the  money  we  give  him.  Do  you  understand, 
Laffin  ? ' 

'  I  do  thot,  sor.' 

'  No  favouritism  you  know ;  you  can  discharge  him 
to-morrow  if  he  don't  suit,  and  you'll  never  hear  of  it 
from  me.' 

'  Has  the  yong  mon  anny  axpaarience  in  painting, 
sor?' 

" '  Not  an  atom.    Put  him  at  the  priming.' 

"  '  I  beg  your  pardon,  Mr.  Bonsel,'  I  interrupted,  '  but 
I  helped  to  paint  my  yacht  once  at  the  Bermudas.  We 
had  a  kind  of  a  strike  among  the  crew  led  by  a  dissatis- 
fied countryman  of  Mr.  Laffin's  here ;  they  sort  of  took 
advantage  of  the  fact  that  we  were  in  a  foreign  port,  and 
I  sort  of  showed  them  a  specimen  of  American  independ- 
ence. The  painting  was  well  done,  and  as  my  yacht  cost 
a  hundred  thousand  dollars  and  as  your  carriages  are 
hardly  so  expensive,  I  -think  I  can  give  satisfaction  lo 
Mr.  Laffin  and  the  firm.' 

"  Billy's  eyes  opened  wide  at  the  mention  of  the  yacht, 
and  then  partially  closed  to  two  malignant  slits  as  he 
sized  me  up  with  no  favouring  glance.  His  fist  clenched 
nervously  and  I  said  to  myself,  '  I'm  going  to  have 
trouble  with  this  man.'  It  was  not  a  diplomatic  begin- 


146  The  Victors 

ning  with  my  new  master,  but  I  was  getting  very  tired  of 
the  good  Mr.  Bonsel's  attitude.  Bonsel,  however,  did  not 
resent  my  impertinence,  at  least  audibly ;  he  merely  said 
to  Laffin  : 

He's  the  son  of  that  speculator,  Mitchell,  of  New 
York,  who  went  smash  the  other  day,  and  it's  more  than 
likely  before  long  that  we'll  have  to  put  the  factory  on 
short  time,  if  the  panic  continues.  Take  him  away, 
Laffin/ 

" .Laffin  and  I  walked  through  the  outer  office  and  over 
to  the  paintshop  in  silence.  In  one  corner  of  the  large 
room,  in  which  a  number  of  parts  of  buggies  were  getting 
their  first  coat  of  priming,  there  was  walled  off  a  little 
office  for  the  foreman.  Into  this  Laffin  led  me,  and  clos- 
ing the  door  behind  him  turned  to  me. 

'  See  here,  me  yong  sprig, — '  he  began,  truculently. 

"  '  Wait  a  moment,  Laffin.  You  think  you're  going  to 
do  the  talking,  but  you're  mistaken.  It's  I.  Just  feel  the 
muscle  in  that  arm.'  I  extended  my  arm,  drawing  up  my 
clenched  fist  to  my  shoulder.  Billy  stood  there,  with 
angry  brow  and  dropped  jaw,  but  made  no  motion  to 
accept  my  invitation.  '  There  is  strength,  which  counts 
for  something ;  not  very  much,  but  behind  that  is  science, 
which  makes  all  the  difference  in  the  world.  I  could  out- 
box  any  man  at  Yale.  I  have  been  before  now  pitted 
against  a  professional,  and  my  backers  didn't  lose  their 
bets.  Now  six  dollars  a  week  is  necessary  to  me  just  at 
present,  but  it's  no  great  snap,  and  the  moment  you  begin 
any  petty  tyranny  over  me  I'll  draw  back  and  knock  you 
into  the  middle  of  next  week — yes,  if  you  have  one  hun- 
dred of  your  men  about  you — and  then  I'll  clean  out  the 
shop  if  any  one  of  them  objects.  They  may  slug  me  from 
behind  with  a  hickory  spoke,  but  they  won't  be  able  to  do 
it  with  their  fists.  Anyhow,  the  rear  spoke  won't  help 
you.  You'll  be  flat,  never  knowing  what  hit  you.' 

"  '  Ye  cheeky  divil,'  roared  Billy, '  d'ye  mane  to  threaten 
me  in  my  own  affice?  D'ye  think  I  care  whether  yer 
father  was  a — 

"  '  No,  I  know  you  don't.  But  that  brings  me  to  the 
second  thing  I've  got  to  say.  I'm  to  work  for  six  dollars 
a  week,  but  it  won't  be  for  long.  I'm  of  the  breed  of 


"  Rides  the  wild  mare  with  the  boys  "      147 

the  hawk.  My  father  was  a  millionaire,  and  it's  not  so 
long  ago  that  he  could  have  bought  this  factory,  lock, 
stock  and  barrel,  given  it  away  as  a  present  and  never 
felt  the  cost.  His  ship  has  gone  down  in  a  cyclone,  worse 
luck  for  me,  but  mine's  coming  in  from  some  well-stocked 
port.  I'll  be  a  millionaire,  too,  and  when  I  am,  or  before 
it,  the  first  strike  I  make  I'm  going  to  look  you  up,  Billy, 
and  you'll  be  a  richer  man  when  I  leave  you  if  you  prove 
a  decent  master  to  me  while  you  are  my  master.  I'll  do 
whatever  you  tell  me.  If  you  want  a  buggy  painted  sky 
blue,  with  green  stripes,  I'll  paint  it  just  as  you  say. 
You  can  make  it  mighty  uncomfortable  for  me  if  you  like, 
and  I'll  stand  it  all  without  a  whimper,  up  to  a  certain 
point.  But  if  you  treat  me  like  a  white  man  it  will  be 
the  best  investment  you  ever  made.' 

' '  All  right/  said  Laffin,  with  great  good  nature. 
'  Come  along  and  I'll  find  ye  a  blouse  to  put  over  yer 
store  clothes.' 

"  I  lifted  the  mortgage  from  Laffin's  house  a  few  years 
later  and  gave  him  a  thousand  dollars  additional.  So 
you  see  we  got  along  well  together. 

"  Sometimes  on  the  street  I  met  Mr.  Bonsel,  but  not 
often.  He  never  recognised  me,  and  I  never  saluted  him. 
I  did  my  work  well,  if  I  do  say  so,  and  before  long  found 
a  ten-dollar  bill  in  my  Saturday  envelope,  for  which  per- 
haps I  had  to  thank  Laffin  more  than  my  real  employer. 
I  had  but  one  more  brief  conversation  with  Mr.  Bonsel 
until  the  time  I  negotiated  with  him  for  the  sale  of  his 
works,  two  years  ago,  when  I  turned  the  business  into  a 
limited  company,  for  his  son  showed  more  aptitude  for 
spending  money  than  making,  and  Bonsel,  getting  old, 
wished  to  be  relieved  of  business  worry  and  possess  his 
wealth  in  hard  cash.  The  son  did  what  little  he  could  to 
justify  his  father's  contempt  for  college  men.  The  old 
man  wandered  about  the  town  after  the  conversion  of 
his  business,  like  a  man  who  had  lost  himself,  never  being 
able  to  realise  that  he  had  no  further  voice  in  the  affairs  of 
the  concern  he  had  built  up. 

"  He  died  in  a  few  months,  I  verily  believe,  of  having 
nothing  to  do,  and  the  son,  although  old  enough  to  know 


148  The  Victors 

better,  has  made  the  dollars  fly,  and  is  now  somewhere 
abroad. 

"  Well,  as  I  was  saying,  I  found  myself  in  the  old  man's 
office  once  more. 

"  '  What  do  you  want?  '  he  asked  me  gruffly.  '  I'm  not 
here  to  listen  to  complaints,  and  the  times  don't  justify 
a  raise  in  wages.' 

"  '  Both  of  these  things  I  know/  replied  I,  '  and  the 
fact  that  competition  is  keen  makes  it  incumbent  on  a 
proprietor  to  take  every  advantage  he  can  to  save  money, 
as  well  as  to  make  it.  In  the  repair  shops,  when  paint  is 
taken  from  an  old  wheel,  they  burn  it  off  with  a  blow 
flame,  which  is  not  only  a  slow  method  but  an  unsatis- 
factory one.  The  flame  doesn't  clean  the  wheel  very 
well,  and  the  heat  starts  the  joints.  I  learned  something 
of  chemistry  in  college,  and  I  have  been  experimenting 
since.  I  have  a  liquid  into  which  you  put  an  old  wheel, 
take  it  out,  stand  it  up  to  dry,  then  shake  it,  and  the 
paint  comes  off,  leaving  the  hickory  white  and  clean  as  a 
weather-bleached  bone.' 

'  I've  heard  that  sort  of  nonsense  before.' 
'  Yes  ;  but  this  nonsense  works/ 

" '  You've  been  wasting  my  time  and  material  fooling 
about  with  old  wheels,  have  you  ?  And  now  you  have  the 
impudence  to  come  to  me,  thinking  I  will  put  up  good 
money  on  that  kind  of  folly.  You're  mistaken.  I  turn 
away  humbugging  inventors  from  these  doors  every  day 
in  the  week.' 

"  '  Perhap's  that's  why  your  rival,  the  Connecticut 
Spoke  Company,  is  getting  on  so  well.  I  want  you  to  be 
my  partner  in  this  invention.  If  you  furnish  the  money  to 
patent  it  I  will  give  you  a  half  share.' 

"  The  injudicious  reference  to  the  Spoke  Company  put 
a  spoke  in  my  wheel,  for  the  old  man  hated  the  new  firm 
with  a  virulence  that  almost  brought  on  apoplexy  when 
any  one  mentioned  it.  He  ordered  me  out  of  the  office  and 
told  me  never  again  to  enter  it  unless  I  was  sent  for.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  it  was  Laffin,  the  foreman,  who  lent  me 
the  two  hundred  dollars  necessary  to  protect  the  inven- 
tion and  go  to  New  York  to  place  it.  He  was  a  practical 


"  Rides  the  wild  mare  with  the  boys  "     149 

man  and  saw  at  once  the  merit  of  the  idea.  I  got  the 
firm  of  Glassthrop  &  Co.,  company  promoters,  patent 
agents  and  all  that,  to  handle  this  invention  for  me,  and 
they  did  their  duty  well,  making  money  for  themselves 
and  for  me,  too.  My  first  cheque  was  for  twelve  thou- 
sand dollars,  and  I've  had  many  a  one  since.  By  rather 
a  funny  coincidence  Glassthrop's  man  called  on  old  Bon- 
sel  and  tried  to  sell  him  state  rights.  Bonsel  treated  the 
proposal  with  great  contempt,  and  said  he  had  a  work- 
man in  his  factory  who  had  been  doing  a  similar  trick  for 
years.  This  naturally  alarmed  the  New  York  man,  who 
began  to  see  ahead  of  him  lawsuits  for  infringement  of 
patents,  or,  at  the  mildest,  his  own  patent  invalidated. 
He  begged  Bonsel  to  send  for  this  workman,  and  I  was 
ordered  up  from  the  paint  shop  in  my  spotted  Joseph's 
coat  of  many  colours.  When  I  told  you  a  moment  ago 
that  I  had  had  but  one  interview  with  the  old  man,  I 
had  forgotten  this  brief  and  exciting  visit.  I  recognised 
Glassthrop's  man  at  once,  but  it  was  some  moments  be- 
fore he  knew  me  as  the  young  man  who  had  called  with 
the  invention  at  his  office  in  New  York.  He  seemed 
anxious  when  I  came  in,  but  laughed  with  evident  relief 
when  he  recollected  me. 

"  '  O,  that's  all  right,'  he  exclaimed ;  '  this  is  the  young 
man  who  placed  the  invention  in  our  hands  in  New  York.' 

"  '  When  were  you  in  New  York  ? '  thundered  Bonsel. 

"  I  told  him.  He  raged  round,  saying  that  I  had  been 
using  the  time  he  paid  for  to  further  my  own  ends.  I 
called  his  attention  to  the  fact  that  I  had  not  received 
money  for  the  days  I  had  been  off,  but  that  did  nothing 
to  allay  the  storm.  He  discharged  me  on  the  spot  and 
ordered  the  New  York  man  out  of  the  office. 

"'It  doesn't  matter,  Mr.  Mitchell,'  said  the  latter; 
'  your  patent  has  been  sold  for  a  considerable  sum  in  In- 
diana, so  we'll  see  you  through.' 

"  I  went  back  to  the  shop  to  bid  good-bye  to  Laffin  and 
the  boys,  and  the  New  Yorker  went  over  to  the  office  of 
the  Spoke  Company  and  succeeded  in  disposing  of  the 
rights  for  Connecticut. 

"  I  joined  the  New  York  firm,  and  am  now  one  of  the 


150  The  Victors 

company.  Thus  I  am  in  a  box  car  making  my  way  to 
Chicago  to  conclude  a  big  deal  there,  and  so  we  come  to 
the  end  of  a  long  story,  which  is  merely  the  beginning  of 
a  life  to  which  you  have  both  listened  with  exemplary 
patience." 

The  low  rumble  of  the  freight  train  had  formed  an 
accompaniment  to  the  recital  in  a  continuous  monotone. 
Jim  sat  statuesquely  through  it  all,  but  during  the  latter 
part  Ben  had  arisen  and  was  pacing  back  and  forth  in 
some  excitement,  running  his  fingers  now  and  then 
through  his  long  fair  hair,  which  badly  needed  cutting. 
His  eyes  shone  in  the  semi-gloom  of  the  car,  and  when 
the  raconteur  stopped  talking  Ben  threw  out  his  hands 
and  cried: 

"  Mr.  Mitchell,  there's  the  hand  of  Providence  in  this. 
God  directed  me  to  take  this  train,  and  I  knew  we  were 
to  meet  someone  who  would  show  us  the  way." 

Mitchell  looked  up  surprised  at  this  outburst,  a  cold 
business  gleam  in  his  eye,  the  unenthusiastic  glance  of  a 
man  who  does  not  care  to  see  the  trail  of  sense  obliterated 
or  obscured  by  the  antics  of  hysteria.  Jim,  whose  trend 
of  mind  led  him  towards  appreciation  of  the  stranger's 
standpoint,  rather  than  towards  sympathy  with  his 
friend  s  cloud-like  altitude,  interrupted : 

"  Hold  up,  Ben,  hold  up.  You  know  nothing  of  the 
kind.  You  said  that  if  a  brakeman  threw  us  off  the  train 
that  would  be  an  indication  of  the  wishes  of  Providence, 
to  which  proposition  I  demurred,  holding  it  would  be 
merely  a  manifestation  on  the  part  of  the  railroad  com- 
pany that  it  did  not  wish  to  forego  its  legal  fare." 

Ben  turned  upon  his  comrade  aglow  with  indignation. 

"  How  is  the  Lord  to  show  His  will  except  through  in- 
cidents which  we,  in  our  blindness,  regard  as  trivial?" 

"  I'm  sure  I  can't  pretend  to  tell  you,  Ben." 

"  Very  well,  then ;  don't  attempt  to  make  up  for  lack  of 
knowledge  or  thought  by  sneering.  Yesterday  it  was  im- 
possible for  me  to  predict  in  what  form  His  guidance 
would  come ;  this  morning  I  simply  recognise  what  I  see. 
Yes,  Mr.  Mitchell,"  he  continued,  impulsively,  turning; 
to  the  stranger,  "  we  are  the  two  young  men  you  have 
been  looking  for." 


"  Rides  the  wild  mare  with  the  boys"     151 

There  was  a  marked  absence  of  emotion  in  Mr. 
Mitchell's  reply. 

"Really?  You  will  pardon  me,  but  I  did  not  know 
I  was  looking  for  anyone." 

"  That  is  very  likely.  I  didn't  know  I  was  looking  for 
you,  but  such  is  the  case.  Everybody  is  on  the  outlook 
for  someone  who  will  sell  him  five  dollars'  worth  for  a 
dollar." 

"  That's  true.    What's  your  five-dollar  article?  " 

"  It  is  not  one  article  but  several  that  we  have  to  dispose 
of.  Sterling  honesty,  for  example,  is  that  to  be  picked 
up  every  day  ?  " 

"  I  don't  suppose  it  is,  still  it  is  one  of  the  most  value- 
less things  on  the  market.  We  take  our  precautions 
against  dishonesty.  I  always  say  that  if  a  man  is  able  to 
cheat  me  he  may." 

"  You  place  no  value  on  honesty  r  " 

"  Very  little.  I  find  it  usually  goes  with  incurable  dul- 
ness.  Of  course  you  are  talking  now  of  coming  into  my 
employ  ;  I  don't  pretend  to  misunderstand  you.  You  want 
your  chan'ce,  as  you  say,  and  you  think  you  have  met 
a  man  who  may  perhaps  be  able  to  offer  you  an  oppor- 
tunity. I  am  not  sure  that  I  can,  but  we  will  let  that  ques- 
tion rest  for  a  moment.  As  the  merchants  say,  it  is  no 
trouble  to  show  goods,  and  the  first  web  you  unfold  on  the 
counter  is  honesty.  It  is  a  fine  old  pattern,  and  much 
praised  in  moral  books ;  but  I  would  rather  have  a  smart, 
resourceful  young  man  who  would  defraud  me  if  he 
could  than  a  slow,  honest  person.  I'd  see  that  he  didn't 
get  the  better  of  me,  and  I  should  profit  by  his  expertness 
in  a  crisis." 

McAllister  had  never  met  such  sentiments  before,  and 
they  took  him  by  surprise,  so  he  stood  there  confounded, 
with  no  reply  ready.  It  was  Monro  who  took  up  the 
conversation  very  quietly. 

"  That's  the  right  way  to  talk,  now  that  we  are  getting 
close  to  Chicago." 

"  You  think  there  isn't  much  honesty  in  Chicago  ?  I 
guess  you're  not  far  wrong." 

"  You  mistake  me.    I  have  no  doubt  that  Chicago,  like 


152  The  Victors 

any  other  large  city,  has  a  great  deal  more  honesty  in  it 
than  it  gets  credit  for.  I  was  only  referring  to  the  fact 
that  I  see  through  the  chinks  of  both  doors  and  we  are  al- 
ready at  the  scattered  ring  fence  of  the  place,  and  so  I 
compliment  you  on  the  appropriateness  of  your  talk  to  my 
friend." 

"  I  must  confess  I  don't  see  the  drift  of  your  remarks." 

"  Why,  it's  plain  enough.  You  are  talking  of  re- 
sourcefulness as  if  you  possessed  it  and  Ben  didn't." 

"  O,  pardon  me.  I  said  nothing  against  any  lack  in 
either  of  you ;  I  couldn't  speak  of  what  I  have  no  knowl- 
edge, and  1  may  say  without  self-flattery  that  I  am  con- 
sidered rather  a  good  hand  at  a  pinch." 

"  I  disagree  with  both  your  propositions.  In  the  first 
place,  you  have  knowledge  of  Ben's  resourcefulness ;  and 
in  the  second  place,  there  was  little  of  brains  displayed  in  a 
pinch  by  the  man  on  the  platform  of  a  way  station  with 
a  valise  in  his  hand  some  hours  ago.  He  was  going  to 
the  caboose,  to  be  flung  out,  valise  and  all.  on  the  road  as 
soon  as  he  was  discovered  there.  Until  Ben's  resourceful 
hand  helped  you  into  this  box  car  you  were  a  ditched 
train,  and  so,  as  I  say,  it's  all  right  for  you  to  talk  big, 
now  that,  through  no  ingenuity  of  your  own,  you  are  at 
the  edge  of  Chicago." 

Mr.  Mitchell  laughed  heartily  and  seemed  in  no  way 
offended  by  the  outspoken  bluntness  of  his  critic. 

"  That's  the  way  to  talk,"  he  said.  "  I  like  that  method 
of  expressing  one's  self  much  better  than  any  canting  on 
the  ways  of  Providence,  or  boasting  of  immaculate  morals. 
Yes,  you  are  right.  That's  the  kind  of  goods  to  show  if 
you  want  to  make  a  sale.  Now,  what  else  have  you  to 
offer?" 

Ben,  being  directly  addressed  by  this  query  and  hav- 
ing, in  sporting  phrase,  recovered  his  second  wind,  replied 
with  some  diminution  of  his  former  enthusiasm : 

"  Well,  I  think  we  can  claim  for  ourselves  indefatigable 
energy.  We're  not  afraid  of  work.  If  we  get  a  dollar  a 
day  we'll  try  to  earn  five  for  the  man  who  pays  us." 

"  Ah,  that's  first-class  negotiable  goods.  Won't  wash 
though.  Doesn't  keep  its  colour.  You  won't  be  long  in 


"Rides  the  wild  mare  with  the  boys"    153 

that  frame  of  mind,  my  friend,  although  I  think  many  of 
us  beginthat  way, and  it's  not  a  bad  beginning.  Byandby 
you  will  come  to  the  conclusion  that  you  may  as  well  have 
the  extra  four  dollars  as  the  boss,  and  you  will  be  quite 
right.  It's  every  man  for  himself  in  this  day  and  age. 
You  claim  honesty  and  industry,  and  you  have  proven 
ability  in  a  crisis.  What  else  have  you  to  offer?" 

Monro  took  the  word  from  his  friend's  earnest  mouth. 

"  We  have  to  offer  you  a  chance  of  getting  out  of  this 
box  car  without  either  breaking  your  neck  or  running 
into  the  arms  of  authority.  We've  stopped  for  a  moment 
at  a  crossing.  Throw  open  both  doors  and  spring  out 
to  the  left.  The  watchman  on  the  left  will  imagine  that 
we  have  leaped  the  barrier  and  come  through  the  train. 
Anyone  who  is  on  the  lookout  on  the  right  will  not  be 
able  to  see  us  until  the  train  moves  on." 

The  locomotive,  far  in  front,  was  whistling  in  short 
toots  impatient  at  the  delay.  Against  a  barrier  across  the 
street  on  the  right  an  early  morning  crowd  had  collected, 
many  with  dinner-pails  in  their  hands,  and  were  pressed 
together  like  logs  in  a  jam.  The  three  sprang  out  and 
made  for  the  barrier  at  the  left  to  get  on  the  main  road. 

"  Stop  that,  stop  that !  "  cried  the  watchman,  angrily, 
rushing  to  intercept  them. 

"  It's  all  right,"  said  Mitchell,  suavely,  slipping  half 
a  dollar  into  the  man's  hand.  "  We're  in  rather  a  hurry. 
Where's  the  nearest  street  car  ?  " 

"  It's  over  there  beyant  the  saloon,"  growled  the  watch- 
man. "  Ye'll  thry  that  thrick  once  too  aften  and  get  a 
leg  taken  aff  ye." 

A  moment  later  they  were  seated  in  the  street  car, 
jingling  on  toward  the  centre  of  the  city. 

"  Another  sample  of  resource,"  said  Mitchell  with  a 
smile. 

"  It's  for  sale,"  said  Jim,  and  the  elder  man  laughed 
outright. 


CHAPTER    XI 

"  THEY  ARE  THRIFTY,   HONEST   MEN  " 

THE  street  car  jogged  its  leisurely  way  through  a  most 
uninteresting,  scattered  district ;  wooden  shanties,  wooden 
houses,  and  here  and  there  a  brick  building  at  a  corner, 
standing  high  above  its  surroundings,  the  upper  stories 
with  a  deserted  look  about  the  windows,  evidence  of  some 
sanguine  man's  premature  belief  in  the  rapid  expansion  of 
the  city.  At  first  the  street  car  line  was  elevated  above  a 
dirt  road  from,  whose  uneven  surface  every  passing  ve- 
hicle raised  clouds  of  grey  dust,  then  came  pavement,  and 
the  plank  sidewalk  seemed  less  ragged,  while  the  houses 
were  higher  and  closer  together.  Now  and  then  they 
passed  a  bit  of  uneven  stone  sidewalk,  the  broad  flags  left 
as  they  had  been  heaved  by  the  frost  of  last  winter  or  the 
winter  before. 

Mitchell  sat  silent,  in  his  corner,  and  the  young  men, 
feeling  sleepy  and  up-all-nightish,  had  little  inclination  to 
talk.  All  were  grimed  with  dust  and  cinders,  and  early 
though  it  was  the  pavements  were  sending  up  a  dry, 
exhausting  heat.  The  car  had  left  its  terminus  practically 
empty  as  the  freight  train  had  crossed  its  custom  and  held 
back  its  passengers,  but  as  it  went  on  it  soon  filled. 
Mitchell  sat  in  the  corner  at  the  rear  door,  with  his  eye 
continually  questioning  the  street.  At  last  he  saw  an 
empty  carriage  drive  from  one  of  the  side  residence  ave- 
nues into  the  broad  thoroughfare  down  which  ran  the 
car  line.  Through  the  open  window  he  hailed  the  driver. 

"  Are  you  engaged?  " 

"  No,  sir." 

"  Then  I've  got  three  passengers  for  you." 

He  stopped  the  car  and  grasped  his  valise. 


"  They  are  thrifty,  honest  men  "       155 

"  Come  on,  boys,"  he  said  quickly,  like  one  accustomed 
to  obedience. 

"  I  guess  we'll  ride  down  in  the  car,"  replied  Jim,  with- 
out moving.  "  We're  in  no  hurry.  Where  can  we  meet 
you  later  in  the  day  ?  " 

"  Come  on,  come  on,"  he  cried  impatiently ;  "  we  can't 
talk  here.  Don't  you  see  others  are  waiting  for  your 
seat?  Come  on." 

He  pushed  through  the  standing  crowd  on  the  plat- 
form, stepped  off  and  handed  up  his  valise  to  the  driver 
o±  the  cab.  "  Palmer  House,"  he  said  shortly.  McAllis- 
ter had  followed  him,  and  Jim  reluctant  had  followed 
Ben.  The  car  went  on. 

"  Jump  in,  jump  in !     I'm  hungry." 

When  the  three  were  seated,  the  carriage  speedily 
passed  the  street  car. 

"  We're  not  going  to  the  Palmer  House,"  said  Jim,  at 
last. 

"  You  think  you're  not,  but  you  are,  all  the  same.  It's 
unlikely  after  I've  been  your  guest  part  of  the  night  that 
you're  not  going  to  be  mine  at  breakfast.  There  may  be 
better  restaurants  in  this  country  than  the  one  at  the 
Palmer  House, but  I'll  guarantee  they  will  get  us  up  a  pre- 
sentable breakfast  this  morning  if  we  go  about  it  the  right 
way.  I  take  it  you  have  no  previous  appointment,  and 
to  me  breakfast  is  the  most  important  event  in  the  im- 
mediate future." 

"  We're  not  just  dressed  in  a  style  suitable  for — 

"  Don't  let  that  worry  you.  Just  thank  God  you've  got 
an  appetite.  Besides,  I  think  you  want  to  have  a  little 
business  talk  with  me,  eh?  So  I  supposed.  Well,  the 
only  time  I  shall  have  to  spare  will  be  from  the  present 
moment  until  breakfast  time.  After  that  you  can  do 
what  you  please." 

They  were  now  in  the  roar  and  rush  of  the  feverish 
city,  and  presently  the  carriage  drew  up  at  the  portal  of 
the  huge  hotel. 

A  sprightly  negro  sprang  out  and  seized  the  valise. 
Mitchell  paid  the  cabman,  briefly,  with  the  air  of  a  man 
who  knows  what  is  the  right  thing  to  do  and  does  it,  cut- 


156  The  Victors 

ting  off  all  discussion,  if  any  is  attempted,  by  turning 
abruptly  and  following  the  laden  coloured  man. 

"  I  want  the  best  room  that's  vacant  in  the  house,"  he 
said  to  the  dignified  imperturbable  clerk  at  the  desk. 

"  No.  17,"  remarked  the  latter,  quietly,  taking  down  a 
key  with  a  metal  flange  loosely  attached  to  it  and  giving 
it  to  a  negro,  who  took  the  bag  from  the  hall  porter.  "  I 
think  No.  17  will  suit  you,  Mr.  Mitchell." 

"  Has  it  a  bath-room  attached  ?  " 

"  Certainly.    Just  arrived,  Mr.  Mitchell  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  Why,  what  train  did  you  come  on  ?  " 

"  Special." 

"  Ah." 

Mitchell,  with  a  word  to  his  new  acquaintances  to  fol- 
low him,  threaded  his  way  through  the  lofty  rotunda, 
already  thronged  with  people,  until  the  negro  unlocked 
the  door  of  No.  17  and  waved  them  into  a  large  bed- 
room, with  a  dressing-room  and  bath-room  adjoining. 

"  Look  here,  nigger,"  said  Mitchell  sharply  when  the 
menial  had  unstrapped  the  valise,  "  how  many  persons 
are  staying  at  this  hotel?" 

"  I  dunno,  sah." 

"  Well,  it  doesn't  so  much  matter  how  many  there  are, 
as  long  as  you  remember  that  the  whole  lot  of  them 
won't  be  as  good  to  you  as  I  will  if  you  amount  to  a  row 
of  pins.  Just  feel  the  texture  of  that,  nigger !  " 

The  white  man  handed  the  black  man  a  five-dollar  bill, 
and  the  grin  of  the  latter  broadened,  as  he  gave  vent  to  a 
loud  "  Yeh,  yeh,  yeh !  "  He  rubbed  the  paper  between 
finger  and  thumb,  saying :  "  Yet's  got  a  nice  com'f ubel  feel 
'bout  it,  sah." 

"  Yes,  it  has,  and  the  comfortable  feel  will  increase  if 
you  put  it  safely  into  your  pocket.  Now,  that's  a  begin- 
ning, and  see  here,  nigger,  whenever  No.  17  drops  in  the 
office  indicator,  what  are  you  going  to  do?  Scratch  your 
head  and  meditate  awhile,  and  then  come  loitering 
through  the  halls  and  tap  at  the  wrong  door." 

"  Deed  I  ain't,  misteh ;  I'm  going  to  fly  right  here  to  dis 
room  quick !  " 


"  They  are  thrifty,  honest  men  "        157 

"  That's  right.  Now  turn  on  the  water  into  the  bath- 
tub, and  see  that  there's  plenty  of  towels.  The  average 
man  wants,  we  will  say,  five ;  I  want  fifteen." 

The  black  man  allowed  no  resentment  at  being  called 
"  nigger,"  although  in  law  he  was  equal  to  the  person  who 
had  so  lavishly  tipped  him.  When  he  returned,  the  sound 
of  pouring  water  following  him,  Mitchell  said :  "  Bring 
three  whisky  cocktails,  unless  you  would  rather  drink 
something  else,  gentlemen.  If  so,  name  your  poison." 

"  We  don't  drink,"  said  the  two  young  men  together. 

"  Well,  it's  a  bit  early,  but  after  our  ride  I  don't  think 
it  would  hurt.  No?  All  right.  One  cocktail,  nigger.'' 
The  nigger  seemed  to  tumble  over  his  big  feet  in  his 
hurry  to  be  quit  of  the  room. 

"  Now,  boys,"  said  Mitchell,  as  he  tiirew  off  his  coat 
and  hung  it  up,  "  I'm  not  going  to  make  company  of  you 
a  bit.  You  sit  down  and  look  cheerful.  I'm  going  in  for 
a  swim,  if  the  water's  liquid  enough  for  me  to  sink  in. 
In  St.  Louis  or  Louisville  it's  generally  mud,  but  out  of 
the  lake  here  it  ought  to  be  reasonably  refreshing."  His 
braces  were  dangling  in  loops  at  his  hips  as  the  waiter 
came  in  with  the  cocktail,  which  he  sampled  with  an  ap- 
preciative sip,  then  drank  off  at  a  toss.  "  That's  grateful 
and  comforting.  I  say,  nigger,  is  Tom  still  head  waiter 
in  the  restaurant?  " 

"  O,  yes,  seh.  Couldn't  get  along  without  Tom  nohow, 
seh." 

"  Very  good.  Now  you  go  to  Tom  and  tell  him  John  L. 
Mitchell  of  New  York  is  here,  hungrier  than  ever  he  was 
in  his  life  before.  I  suggest  frogs'  legs  and  grilled  prairie 
chicken,  if  either  bird  is  in  season.  And,  to  begin  with, 
if  he's  got  any  nice  ripe  early  nutmeg  melons,  just  have 
'em  filled  up  with  pounded  ice.  Tell  him  I  leave  it  all  to 
him,  and  that  he'll  never  have  an  easier  victim  to  work 
on,  for  my  appetite  will  assis*  him.  I  expect  him  to  look 
after  the  coffee  himself.  Breakfast  for  three,  and  send  a 
messenger  to  room  17  as  soon  as  he  is  ready." 

Again  the  colored  gentleman  broke  from  the  room  with 
a  delirious  haste  that  was  comical  to  behold. 

"  There  is  no  country  in  the  world,"  came  the  voice  of 


158  The  Victors 

Mitchell  from  within  the  folds  of  an  overhead  shirt, 
"  where  they  make  better  coffee  than  right  here  in  these 
United  States.  Talk  of  the  coffee  of  France !  It  doesn't 
compare  with  the  best  in  America,  when  you  strike  a  cook 
who  knows  how  to  make  it." 

The  last  words  came  from  the  bath-room,  and  a  moment 
later  there  was  the  sound  of  a  plunge  and  a  wallowing. 

"  Whew  !  This  is  fine.  I  say,  boys,  don't  stand  on  cere- 
mony, but  throw  off  and  prepare  for  the  swimming  hole. 
You'll  feel  a  hundred  per  cent,  better.  I'll  be  out  in  a 
minute,  and  there  will  be  lots  of  time  before  breakfast." 

Jim  laughed.  "  I'll  take  that  offer,"  he  said,  "  Ben, 
after  you.  No;  go  ahead.  I'll  follow." 

It  was  the  head  waiter  himself  who  came  to  announce 
breakfast,  and  he  found  all  the  three  men  anxiously  await- 
ing him,  thoroughly  refreshed  by  their  immersion  in  the 
cool  water  of  the  lake. 

The  sumptuousness  of  the  breakfast-room,  the  splen- 
dour of  the  china  service  and  silver  dishes,  the  choiceness 
of  the  food,  the  deftness  of  the  waiting,  all  impressed  the 
unaccustomed  young  men  as  rivalling  anything  they  had 
ever  read  or  imagined  regarding  banqueting,  and  they 
could  not  understand  why  a  dyspeptic-looking  man  at  a 
table  near  them  was  querulously  complaining  that,  with 
the  single  exception  of  a  nickel  restaurant  in  Waco,  Tex., 
this  was  the  very  worst  eating  house  on  the  American 
continent.  To  the  boys  it  seemed  that  the  restaurant  was 
an  exemplification  of  the  extreme  to  which  luxury  in  liv- 
ing could  extend,  while  the  delicacy  of  the  viands  sur- 
passed their  wildest  dreams.  Here  was  what  wealth 
could  do,  and  wealth  was  what  they  were  after.  "  It  isn't 
bad,  you  know,  for  a  hurried  snack,"  said  Mitchell,  as  he 
did  the  honours  of  the  table.  "  If  I'd  known  I  was  going 
to  have  company  and  had  been  sure  of  reaching  Chicago. 
I'd  have  telegraphed  to  Tom  last  nieht,  and  then  you 
should  have  seen  the  layout  that  would  have  awaited  us. 
Still,  with  a  good  appetite  even  a  Chicago  restaurant  is 
possible." 

Here  was  exemplified  the  superciliousness  of  the  east 
thought  the  young  men  to  themselves,  for  they  doubted  if 


"  They  are  thrifty,  honest  men  "        159 

New  York  or  Boston  could  have  anything  better  to  offer. 
They  gave  no  expression  to  their  admiration  and  wonder, 
but  took  it  all  as  a  matter  of  course,  with  the  imperturba- 
bility of  the  American  under  unusual  conditions,  a  trait 
which  perhaps  the  climate  imparts,  as  it  imparted  the  gift 
of  repression  to  the  original  inhabitant,  the  red  man. 
During  the  meal  Mitchell  showed  no  inclination  to  talk 
business,  but  conversed  airily  on  fishing  and  hunting  in 
the  north  woods,  the  excellent  breakfasts  of  the  camp  and 
the  delights  of  a  pipe  over  a  log  fire  when  evening  fell  in 
the  forest,  by  the  side  of  some  placid  lake  or  brawling 
river.  He  appeared  to  possess  great  knowledge  of  wood- 
craft and  of  wild  life,  and  his  wanderings  with  rod  and 
gun  had  taken  him  far  afield.  As  he  talked  in  most  en- 
tertaining and  instructive  fashion,  the  ;  oung  men  began 
to  feel  rather  overawed,  and  it  was  difficult  to  imagine 
that  this  was  the  man  who,  but  a  short  time  before,  was 
sitting,  somewhat  unkempt,  on  a  strapped  valise  in  an 
empty  grain  car.  There  was  now  a  fresh,  spick-and-span- 
ness  about  him  that  was  almost  foppish,  and.  although 
there  was  nothing  in  his  raiment  to  particularise,  his 
guests  felt  rather  than  saw  that  he  was  the  best-dressed 
man  in  the  room.  His  clear-cut  face  lit  up  wonderfully 
with  enthusiasm  over  the  pleasures  to  be  had  in  forest  and 
stream,  and  they  were  at  their  ease  with  him  largely  be- 
cause they  saw  he  enjoyed  their  appreciation  of  his  in- 
teresting conversation.  He  talked  away  all  their  self- 
consciousness,  which  might  have  embarrassed  them  if  they 
had  opportunity  to  think  that  their  own  garb,  never  of 
artistic  cut,  and  unimproved  by  tramping  along  country 
roads  in  the  summer  dust,  was  decidedly  incongruous 
amidst  their  present  surroundings. 

When  this  never-to-be-forgotten  breakfast  was  finished, 
Mitchell  led  the  way  to  his  own  room  again,  lit  a  cigar 
and  threw  himself  into  the  most  comfortable  armchair 
that  the  apartment  contained. 

"  Now,  young  men,"  he  said,  "  I  can  give  you  ten  min- 
utes, and  during  that  time  I  will  do  most  of  the  talking. 
In  the  first  place,  how  much  money  have  you?  " 

Jim  and  Ben  looked  at  each  other,  as  if  in  doubt  who 
should  be  the  spokesman,  then  the  former  said: 


160  The  Victors 

"  Well,  Mr.  Mitchell,  we  are  rated  in  Bradstreet  at 
between  twenty-five  and  thirty  dollars." 

The  New  Yorker  blew  a  balloon  of  smoke  in  the  air, 
and  laughed  the  good-natured  laugh  of  a  well-fed  man. 
'  Twenty-five  each,  or  between  you  ?  " 

"  Twenty-five  is  the  combined  wealth  of  the  syndi- 
cate." 

"  Rather  undercapitalised  I  should  say  for  a  Chicago 
syndicate.  Now  one  of  my  maxims  in  life  is  never  to  be- 
lieve a  man  is  going  to  sign  what  he  says  he  will  sign, 
put  up  the  amount  of  cash  he  says  he  will  put  up,  or  in 
short  do  what  he  says  he  will  do.  Thus  I  am  never  dis- 
appointed. When  a  man  comes  up  to  his  promise,  it  is  all 
pure  gain,  and  when  he  doesn't,  then  it's  only  what  I  ex- 
pected. Thus  is  disappointment  eliminated  from  life,  and 
all  our  surprises  are  pleasant  surprises,  a  consummation 
devoutly  to  be  wished.  What  do  you  boys  expect  from 
me?" 

"  Nothing,  so  there  is  no  necessity  of  hedging." 

"  I  wasn't  hedging  so  much  as  laying  down  a  basis  for 
future  action — future  possibilities  of  action  rather. 
Blessed  is  he  who  expects  nothing.  In  the  first  place  1 
don't  know  that  I  can  do  anything.  Much  will  depend 
on  my  partner,  in  fact  I  may  call  him  my  chief,  who  rarely 
leaves  New  York.  If  he  consents  to  employ  you,  it  will 
be  first  on  some  forlorn  hope.  He  will  set  you  at  some- 
thing where  another  man  has  failed.  Now  the  most  dis- 
couraging thing  in  the  world  is  to  go  over  ground  where 
some  fool  has  bungled.  Would  you  be  willing  to  tackle 
such  a  job?  " 

"  We'll  tackle  anything,  but  perhaps  it  would  help 
on  a  mutual  understanding  if  you  would  tell  us  just  what 
the  business  is :  what  we  would  be  expected  to  do." 

Mitchell  smoked  for  a  few  moments  in  silence,  chuck- 
ling to  himself  quietly. 

"  I  was  just  wondering  to  myself  how  long  it  would  be 
before  you  asked  that  very  important  and  leading  question. 
I  have  been  admiring  the  supreme  confidence  of  youth, 
ready  to  precipitate  itself  into  the  unknown,  certain  of 
success.  Very  well,  our  firm  is  a  growing  firm.  By  and 


"  They  are  thrifty,  honest  men"        161 

by  we  hope  that  if  they  want  to  transform  Chicago  into 
a  limited  liability  company  we  can  undertake  the  task 
with  the  same  feeling  of  modest  competence  that  you  dis- 
play in  offering  to  link  your  fortunes  with  ours.  At 
present  we  take  up  a  promising  patent,  we  will  say.  If 
it  is  a  small  thing  like  my  own  invention,  we  send  glib- 
tongued,  persuasive  young  men  to  the  leading  manu- 
facturers and  sell  state  rights ;  if  it  is  a  big  thing  by  some 
world-renowned  scientist,  we  form  state  companies ;  in 
either  case  we  try  to  make  something  in  ready  cash  for 
ourselves.  Now,  if  you  think  you  are  able  to  form  a  state 
company  for,  let  us  say,  a  new  patent  fire-escape,  you  go 
to  the  most  expensive  hotel  in  the  city  where  you  expect 
to  operate,  you  interview  the  big  men  of  the  place,  you 
quietly  distribute  quantities  of  stock  at  your  disposal 
where  it  will  do  the  most  good.  Then  the  dear  public, 
seeing  these  leading  men  in  the  thing,  expecting  to  get  in 
on  the  ground  floor,  take  up  the  stock  for  sale,  and  there 
you  are.  If  enough  of  them  bite,  you  succeed  ;  if  not,  you 
fail,  and  have  a  big  bill  to  pay  at  your  hotel.  That's  a 
rough  outline  of  our  scheme ;  what  do  you  think  of  it  ? " 

"  Arc  these  companies — do  they — well,  are  they  usually 
successful ;  that  is,  do  they  pay  the  people  who  risk  their 
money?"  asked  Ben,  suspiciously. 

"  You  mean  are  they  swindles  ?  O,  bless  you,  no.  We 
couldn't  keep  an  office  open  at  that  rate.  They  are  some- 
times overcapitalised,  sometimes  mismanaged,  sometimes 
successful,  but  we  endeavour  to  have  nothing  to  do  with 
any  scheme  that  is  bogus." 

"  If  we  were  to  undertake  the  forming  of  one  of  your 
companies  and  failed,  would  we  have  to  stand  the  loss  of 
our  expenses?  " 

"  Certainly." 

"  Can  you  get  people  to  work  on  those  terms  ?  " 

"  Hundreds  of  them." 

"  Well,  that  counts  us  out.  However  willing  we  might 
be,  we  are  the  people  who  don't  buy  Chicago  because  we 
haven't  the  boots." 

"  Well,  that's  the  way  it  struck  me.     You  wanted  a 
show,  and  that's  the  kind  of  show  we  have  to  offer  to  an 
outside  man  who  believes  in  himself." 
ii 


162  The  Victors 

"  O,  you  are  not  offering  a  show ;  you're  offering-  an 
investment  or  a  speculation,  and  we  don't  happen  to  have 
the  money  to  invest  or  to  speculate.  I  should  guess  off- 
hand that  in  a  business  like  yours  there  must  be  something 
for  two  young  meu  to  do  by  which  they  can  earn  money 
rather  than  risk  it,  and  in  the  doing  of  their  work  give 
some  indication  of  their  abilities,  if  they  have  any.  That's 
what  I  call  a  show,  and  if  you  have  nothing  like  that  to 
offer  then  there's  no  use  of  us  taking  up  any  more  of 
your  time." 

"  All  right.  What  I  want  to  impress  on  you  is  that  you 
are  to  expect  nothing.  Anyhow,  I'll  write  a  letter  about 
you  to-night,  and  when  you  show  up  in  New  York  they'll 
know  at  the  office  who  you  are ;  then,  if  you  expect 
nothing,  anything  you  get  will  be  clear  gain.  How  will 
that  suit  you?  Now  the  next  question  is  that  of  ways 
and  means.  Of  course,  I  don't  expect  you  to  work  your 
way  to  New  ifork  on  a  freight  train,  however  expert 
you  may  be  at  doing  so.  Besides,  it's  slow,  and  the  man 
who  gets  along  nowadays  is  the  man  who  is  quick.  I  pro- 
pose to  give  you  each  a  hundred  dollars.  How  will  that 
suit  you  ?  " 

"  You  mean  as  a  loan  ?  "  asked  Ben. 

"  I  mean  it  any  way  you  like  to  take  it.  Yes,  as  a  loan. 
You  may  pay  it  back  whenever  you  are  ready  to  do  so/' 

"  I  think  that  is  playing  it  rather  low  down  on  you, 
after  such  a  short  acquaintance,  and  I  don't  just  like 
to—" 

"  What's  the  use  of  talking  like  that,  Ben,"  interrupted 
Jim,  with  a  suspicion  of  impatience  in  his  voice.  "  We've 
got  to  have  the  money,  or  we  can't  live  in  New  York  when 
we  get  there,  even  if  we  roughed  it  through  to  the  place. 
I  hate  to  take  the  loan  as  badly  as  the  next  man,  but  it 
will  be  paid  back  all  right  enough.  I  guess  Mr.  Mitchell 
has  no  doubt  on  that  head,  but  even  if  he  has  I  imagine 
if  we  had  held  him  up  last  night  and  demanded  two 
hundred  dollars  to  get  him  into  Chicago  he  would  have 
forked  it  over." 

"  That's  exactly  the  basis  I'm  going  on.  I  would  will- 
ingly have  given  five  hundred  dollars,  so,  you  see,  I'm 


"  They  are  thrifty,  honest  men  "         163 

in  three  hundred  on  the  deal,  and  you  need  have  no 
qualms  about  taking  the  money.  I  put  it  on  the  basis  of 
a  loan  to  please  you,  for  I  see  you  are  a  trifle  sensitive  in 
the  matter ;  a  condition  of  mind  that  will  speedily  rectify 
itself  before  you  are  long  in  New  York.  Very  well,  here 
is  the  money." 

He  counted  it  out  from  a  long  pocketbook,  which  held 
the  bills  without  the  necessity  of  folding,  and  the  boys 
saw  that  he  was  well  provided. 

"  Now,  although  you  are  in  possession  of  my  name,  I 
don't  think  I  have  heard  yours.  Mr.  McAllister,  eh? 
And  Mr.  Monro.  Thanks.  Now,  Mr.  McAllister,  let 
me  give  you  a  word  of  advice.  When  you  meet  my 
partner,  James  Glassthrop,  you  will  meet  the  shrewdest 
business  man  in  this  pretty  large  country.  Do  not  play 
off  on  him  any  of  that  ranting  about  God  of  which  you 
gave  me  a  specimen  in  the  car.  He  would  merely  think 
you  were  crazy  or  were  trying  some  game  on  him,  and  in 
either  case  he  wouldn't  like  it.  I  have  no  doubt  you  were 
and  are  perfectly  sincere,  but  then,  you  see,  I  travel 
round  the  country  and  meet  all  sorts  of  people.  James 
Glassthrop  doesn't,  and  I  don't  believe  he  thinks  God  has 
much  to  do  with  business,  if  he  thinks  of  the  matter  at 
all." 

"  One  of  the  commands  of  the  Lord  is  to  be  diligent  in 
business,"  said  Ben,  reddening  under  the  cool  contempt 
of  the  other's  tone. 

"  Quite  so,  quite  so,"  replied  Mitchell,  nonchalantly, 
"  you  can't  get  me  into  any  theological  discussion.  It 
isn't  in  my  line,  and  I've  no  doubt  you  could  floor  me 
with  texts  if  it  came  to  a  contest  of  that  kind.  I'm  merely 
giving  you  a  friendly  hint,  which  you  can  use  or  not  just 
as  it  pleases  you.  If  you  want  my  opinion,  it's  against 
you.  I  think  there  is  a  time  for  everything  and  that  the 
time  for  scriptural  quotations  is  not  during  a  business 
conversation." 

"  But  don't  you  think,  sir,  that  our  business  conduct 
should  be  regu " 

"  When  do  you  propose  to  start  for  New  York  ?  " 

"  I  start  to-night,"  answered  Jim,  decisively. 


164  The  Victors 

"  That's  the  way  to  talk.  I  suppose  you  will  travel 
together  ?  " 

Both  looked  at  Ben,  who  made  no  reply.  He  stood 
there  with  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  floor,  chagrined,  Mitchell 
thought,  at  his  recent  rebuff,  but  Jim  spoke  up  with  a 
laugh. 

"  I  think  the  Lord  wants  Ben  to  go  down  to  see  his 
girl  in  Central  Illinois." 

Mitchell  smiled,  and  Ben  darted  an  angry  glance  at  his 
traitorous  companion. 

"  I'm  going  down  to  see  my  girl,  as  you  put  it,  because 
I  want  to  go.  Have  you  any  objection?  " 

"  I  haven't,"  said  Jim,  calmly,  "  as  long  as  you  are  in 
New  York  within  the  week." 

"  You  have  no  girl  to  go  to  see  then?  "  asked  the  elder 
man. 

"  Not  likely,"  replied  Jim,  with  decision.  "  I  want  to 
see  some  money  coming  in  before  I  indulge  in  a  luxury 
of  that  sort.  Ben  here  always  was  an  idealist,  with  a  faith 
in  the  future  which  is  sublime." 

"  Well,  here  is  the  address  of  the  firm,  and  these 
cards  will  serve  as  letters  of  introduction."  Mitchell 
wrote  a  word  or  two  on  the  cards  and  handed  them  to  the 
young  men,  rising  as  he  did  so. 

"  I  expect  to  reach  New  York  in  about  a  week.  I  shall 
perhaps  see  you  there.  Good-bye."  Thus  dismissed,  they 
left  him,  and  he  took  a  book  from  his  valise  which  had 
every  second  page  perforated.  He  inserted  between  the 
first  two  leaves  a  sheet  of  carbon  paper  and  wrote  in 
duplicate : 

"  DEAR  GLASSTHROP — I  think  I  have  the  two  men  we 
want.  One  of  them  will  call  on  you  about  th*e  time  you 
receive  this ;  the  other  a  few  days  later.  I  believe  them  to 
be  honest,  and  expect  them  to  remain  so  long  enough  to 
serve  our  turn ;  however,  do  not  take  my  judgment  of 
them  as  final.  Test  them  for  yourself,  and  then  engage 
them  or  dismiss  them  according  to  the  conclusion  you 
arrive  at.  Their  names  are  McAllister  and  Monro. 

Yours, 
JOHN  L.  MITCHELL. 


BOOK  II 
THE  FOOT  OF  THE  SLOPE 


CHAPTER    I 

"  JOURNEYS  END  IN  LOVERS'  MEETING  " 

ILLINOIS  is  flat  enough  and  fertile  enough  and  un- 
picturesque  enough,  but,  like  every  other  state,  it  has  its 
beauty  spots.  In  one  of  these,  at  the  side  of  a  pretty 
dingle,  stood  the  schoolhouse  of  district  No.  4,  distant 
two  miles  and  a  half  from  the  town  of  Stormboro,  yet  a 
secluded  spot,  with  no  suggestion  of  any  human  habita- 
tion near  it. 

School  had  been  dismissed  for  the  day.  and  the  teacher, 
a  fair-haired  girl  of  twenty  or  thereabouts,  sat  at  her  desk 
absorbed  in  examining  the  writing  exercises  of  her  pupils. 
Door  and  windows  were  open,  for  the  afternoon  was 
warm  and  the  slight  current  of  air  which  played  with 
some  wisps  of  hair  about  her  forehead  was  refreshing 
in  its  caressing  coolness.  The  silence  was  intense,  and  it 
seemed  to  the  girl  that  she  was  entirely  alone  in  a  world 
of  stillness.  Gradually,  however,  a  subtle  sense  of  human 
companionship  stole  over  her,  and,  without  knowing 
why,  she  looked  suddenly  up  and  was  startled  to  see  a 
man  standing  like  a  statue  in  the  doorway.  With  a  quick 
gasp  of  alarm  she  rose  to  her  feet;  then  recognised  her 
visitor  as  he  came  forward  with  a  laugh. 

"  O,  Ben !  "  she  cried.  "  how  you  frightened  me. 
Where  on  earth  did  you  spring  from?  I  thought  you 
were  in  Michigan." 

'65 


166  The  Victors 

"  No,  Connie,"  replied  our  radiant  young-  acquaintance, 
advancing  up  the  aisle.  "  I'm  school  inspector  in  Illinois. 
Spring  from?  I  didn't  spring  at  all.  I've  been  prowling 
round  this  exasperating  schoolhouse  for  hours — for  hours 
Connie ;  lying  low  in  the  woods  yonder,  playing  the 
giddy  savage  among  the  trees.  I  feel  like  a  character  out 
of  one  of  Fenimore  Cooper's  novels.  And  then,  when 
those  tiresome  children  were  gone.  I  stole  up  to  this 
edifice  with  all  the  craft  of  a  Sioux." 

"  But  why  didn't  you  come  in  long  ago?  Visitors  are 
always  allowed  at  public  schools." 

"  I  knew  you  wouldn't  like  it.  Con,  and  so  I  sacrificed 
myself.  With  all  those  little  gossips  about,  a  man  has  to 
use  circumspection.  Well,  my  darling  girl,  how  are 
you  ?  " 

"  O  Ben,  Ben,  don't !  Please  be  careful ;  some  one  may 
be  looking  in  at  the  windows." 

"  There's  no  danger,  Connie.  This  place  is  as  deserted 
as  the  Sahara.  However,  I'll  make  sure." 

"  O  Ben,  what  are  you  doing  ?  " 

Ben's  design  was  soon  evident  enough.  He  took  the 
key  from  the  outside  of  the  door  to  the  inside,  and  locked 
himself  and  his  fair  companion  in.  Then,  going  swiftly 
from  one  window  to  another,  he  unloosened  the  cords  and 
allowed  each  of  the  thick  paper  blinds  to  drop  its  full 
length.  These  shades  displayed  a  background  of  deep 
blue,  and  on  this  background  had  been  printed  in  gaudy 
colours  impossible  landscapes  and  waterscapes,  heavily 
laid  on. 

"  Ben,  this  is  simply  scandalous !  What  if  someone 
should  come  ?  " 

"  My  dear,  that  is  the  very  contingency  I  am  guarding 
against.  Let  'em  come.  They  can't  get  in,  nor  look  in." 

The  room  was  now  suffused  with  a  bluish  gloom, 
mitigated  by  a  suggestion  of  crimson  or  yellow  from  the 
western  blinds,  on  which  shone  the  declining  afternoon 
sun. 

"Why, what  a  hasty,  inconsiderate  person  you  are, Ben! 
The  windows  are  still  up,  and  any  one  outside  has  only  to 
shove  aside  the  blind,  and  then  what  will  they  think  of 
their  schoolma'am?  I'm  amazed  at  you." 


"Journeys  end  in  lovers'  meeting"      167 

"  That's  so,"  agreed  Ben.  "  We'll  remedy  the  defect  in 
a  minute,"  and  he  closed  the  windows.  "  Now  we're 
secure.  My  sweetest  girl,  let  me  look  at  you."  He  took 
both  her  unresisting  hands  in  his,  and  gazed  with  glorified 
face  into  hers.  "  Why,  Constance,  you're  actually  pale. 
You've  been  overworking  yourself." 

"  Anyone  would  be  pale  tcf  be  captured  in  this  brigand 
fashion." 

He  took  her  impulsively  in  his  arms  and  smothered 
all  protest,  if  there  were  protest.  Dear  me,  children,  it 
was  just  as  well  you  went  home,  and  quite  time,  too.  It 
would  have  shocked  your  little  innocent  hearts  to  have 
seen  grown-up  people  act  in  this  silly  fashion.  And  who 
could  have  imagined  that  the  demure  school  teacher  would 
have  permitted  such  goings-on  for  a  moment !  Not  I,  and 
certainly  not  you. 

"  Now,  Ben,  behave  yourself,  and  sit  down.  Please 
act  like  a  rational  being."  It  was  time  some  censure  was 
passed  upon  him.  "  Here,  take  my  chair — it's  the  only 
one  in  the  room — and  I'll  stand  at  the  desk  before  you. 
You  are  the  schoolmaster  now,  and  I  the  pupil.  Please 
tell  me  all  about  yourself  and  your  doings.  Has  the 
peddling  been  a  failure,  then  ?  " 

"  A  rank  failure,  Connie.  No,  I  won't  sit  in  the  chair. 
You  take  the  chair.  Oh,  you  must  do  as  I  tell  you.  I'm 
the  guest,  you  know,  and  it  isn't  hospitable  to  refuse  the 
request  of  a  visitor.  I  beg  to  inform  you,  Miss  Constance 
Eraser,  I  should  like  to  go  to  this  school.  I  feel  the  need 
of  more  education,  and  I  just  envy  your  pupils.  That's 
right.  You  look  like  a  queen  on  her  throne.  Connie ;  I 
suppose  all  the  little  ruffians  in  the  neighbourhood  are  in 
love  with  you.  Well,  how  do  you  like  teaching?" 

"  Oh,  I  like  it  very  much,  and,  if  I  do  say  so  myself,  I 
get  along  creditably  with  it.  But  tell  me  about  yourself. 
Is  Jim  with  you  yet?  " 

"  Jim's  gone  on  to  New  York.  We  separated  at 
Chicago,  he  going  east  and  I  south.  I'm  going  east  in  a 
day  or  two,  but  I  simply  couldn't  leave  without  coming 
first  to  see  you,  even  if  the  fortunes  of  the  country  de- 
pended upon  it.  Do  you  walk  home  and  back  night  and 
morning? " 


1 68  The  Victors 

"  Yes.  It's  very  pleasant.  I  bring  my  luncheon  with 
me  in  a  music  roll,  which  acts  useful  and  looks  profes- 
sional. Are  you  to  join  Jim  in  New  York  ?  " 

"  Yes.  Oh,  that's  a  very  long  story — a  wonderful 
story,  I  think ;  but  time's  too  precious  to  tell  it  now.  Have 
you  been  as  happy  while  teaching  school  as  when  attend- 
ing college  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,  quite.  What  are  you  two  going  to  do  in  New 
York?" 

"  To  do?  I  don't  know  what  Jim's  going  to  do,  but  I 
intend  to  provide  a  home  for  the  most  charming  girl  in 
Illinois." 

"  Really  ?  "  said  Constance,  laughing.  "  How  nice  that 
will  be  for  the  charming  girl !  " 

"  I  hope  so.  I  tell  you  what  it  is,  Connie,  I  will  be  the 
best  husband  that  ever  was  married  to  his  best  girl ;  now 
you'll  see  if  I'm  not.  My  wife  shall  have  anything  she 
wants — a  fine  house,  lots  of  servants,  a  carriage,  luxury, 
all  that  money  can  buy — and  I'm  going  to  make  the 
money."  He  brought  his  fist  down  on  the  desk  with  a 
force  that  nearly  split  the  lid.  "  Yes,  sir,  everything  that 
money  can  buy.  I  feel  just  as  certain  of  it  as  if  I  had  the 
cash  in  my  pocket  at  this  moment." 

The  girl  continued  to  laugh  quietly,  but  very  content- 
edly. 

"  Money  isn't  everything,  Ben.  It  takes  more  than 
money  to  make  a  man  the  best  husband,  just  as  it  takes 
more  than  plenty  of  servants  and  a  fine  house  to  make  a. 
woman  the  best  wife,  which  I  hope  I  shall  be,  although 
I  will  not  put  forth  rash  promises,  that  you  may  recall  to 
me  when  I  fail,  or  when  you  think  I  fail,  which  is  the 
same  thing." 

"  O  Constance !  You  fail !  I'll  take  the  risk  of  the 
failure.  All  I  ask  is  my  chance  to  get  along  in  the  world, 
and  then  you'll  see.  We  love  each  other,  Connie ;  not  for 
any  money  or  lands  that  either  of  us  possess,  and  that's 
the  way  the  Lord  intended  people  to  love." 

"  We  have  little  enough  but  ourselves,"  said  the  girl, 
soberly,  "  but  I  think  with  you  that  mutual  affection  is 
all-sufficient.  Long  may  you  believe  so," 


"  Journeys  end  in  lovers'  meeting  "       169 

"  I  ?     I  shall  believe  it  while  I  live." 

"  Then  so  shall  I,  Ben." 

"  I  tell  you,  Connie,"  cried  the  enthusiastic  young-  man, 
running  his  fingers  through  his  long,  straw-coloured  hair, 
a  habit  with  him  when  he  was  up  in  the  clouds,  his  usual 
altitude,  "  our  married  life  will  be  one  dream  of  heaven. 
Honestly,  I  am  sorry  for  folks  that  aren't  us  two ;  I  look 
on  all  the  rest  of  paired  humanity  with  gentle  pity. 
Every  fellow  is  to  be  pitied  that  isn't  me,  because,  you  see, 
I  have  you,  and  what  can  his  possessions  amount  to  ?  " 

"  O  Bennie,  my  Bennie,  it  frightens  me  to  hear  you 
talk.  What  a  disappointment  will  be  yours  if  disappoint- 
ment should  come!  I  am  afraid,  a  mere  earthly  person 
like  me,  to  be  brought  into  direct  competition  with  the 
angels  which  your  too  fervid  fancy  cause  to  hover  round 
you.  I  am  but  a  most  commonplace  girl,  Ben ;  the  glori- 
ous attributes  with  which  you  dress  me  exist  only  in  your 
imagination.  How  can  I  hope  to  keep  you  thus  demented 
all  your  life  ?  And,  if  you  suddenly  turn  ?ane,  what  is  to 
become  of  me  ?  " 

"  But,  Constance,  don't  you  think  I'm  the  greatest 
fellow  that  ever  lived?  Don't  you  believe  I'll  do  every- 
thing I  say :  conquer  the  world  that  I  set  out  to  con- 
quer?" 

"  Oh,  you  ?  Of  course.  That's  an  entirely  different 
thing.  I  am  talking  of  myself." 

"  Well,  do  you  know  why  I'm  the  greatest  fellow?  It's 
just  because  you  think  me  so ;  that's  all.  I  guess  there's 
nobody  really  more  commonplace  than  me,  if  you  come 
right  down  to  facts,  but  I  tell  you,  Connie,  we're  not 
dealing  with  facts,  or,  rather,  we're  dealing  with  the  only 
real  facts  there  are,  which  is  our  belief  in  each  other. 
I'm  all  these  things  simply  because  you  think  I  am.  If 
the  rest  of  the  world  said'  to  me,  '  Ben  McAllister,  you 
don't  amount  to  anything,'  I  wouldn't  believe  them — 
wouldn't  begin  to  believe  them.  I'm  the  Ben  McAllister 
you  think  me,  and  there  isn't  any  other.  Here's  my  life 
plainly  mapped  out  for  me,  and  all  I've  got  to  do  is  to 
follow  the  diagram.  But  if  you  said  I  didn't  amount  to 
anything,  then  I'd  collapse," 


170  The  Victors 

"  In  that  case,  Ben,  you  need  have  no  fear  of  collapsing. 
I'll  always  believe  in  you.  But  you  haven't  told  me  what 
happened  to  you  in  Michigan.  Oh,  by  the  way,  did  you 
get  my  letter  ?  I  sent  it  to  Ann  Arbor ;  that  was  the  last 
address  you  gave  me." 

"  Yes,  I  got  it,  just  before  we  had  an  extraordinary 
adventure  with  another  pedlar." 

"  What !     Three  pedlars !  " 

"  Yes,  three  of  us,  but  the  third  was  much  more  than  a 
match  for  the  other  two.  To  tell  the  truth,  Connie,  I 
don't  think  there's  any  future  for  the  peddling  business 
in  this  country,  unless  a  person  has  an  extraordinary 
amount  of  cheek,  and  has  a  tongue  that  would  make  him 
a  bigger  fortune  as  a  stump  speaker.  How  are  your 
father  and  mother?  Shows  how  polite  I  am  not  to  have 
asked  sooner." 

"  They  are  both  quite  well." 

"  Nothing  on  at  the  college  now,  of  course.  Is  your 
father  as  much  set  against  me  as  ever  ?  " 

The  girl  sighed. 

"  We  don't  talk  about  you,  Ben.  One  of  us  may  do  a 
great  deal  of  thinking,  but  there  isn't  anything  said. 
Mother  looks  sympathetically  at  me  now  and  then,  but 
neither  of  us  say  a  word  even  when  we  are  alone.  Father 
is  very  much  set  in  his  ways,  as  a  veteran  professor  in 
a  college  has  a  right  to  be,  and  however  exaggerated  a 
view  one  member  of  the  family  may  take  of  your  at- 
tainments, it  is  counteracted  by  the  silent  depreciation  of 
another,  and  thus  the  balance  of  the  world  is  kept  equal- 
ised." 

"  Never  mind,  Connie,"  cried  the  young  man,  con- 
fidently, "  I'll  bring  him  round  yet.  He'll  be  proud  to 
own  me  for  a  son-in-law  before  many  years  are  past.  Do 
they  know  we  write  to  each  other  ?  " 

"  No.  If  he  were  to  ask  me  I  should  tell  him  that  we 
did,  but  he  has  never  asked.  I'm  afraid  he  looks  on  me 
as  a  rebellious  daughter,  and  I'm  sorry  he  does.  He  was 
very  much  against  my  taking  this  school,  and  I  think  he 
set  down  my  obstinacy  in  resolving  to  do  something  for 
myself  to  the  trouble  we  had  had  about  you," 


"Journeys  end  in  lovers'  meeting"       171 

"  Say,  Connie,  that  wasn't  bad  practice.  I  never  looked 
on  it  in  that  light  before.  If  a  girl  may  choose  her  own 
profession,  why  may  she  not  choose  her  own  husband? 
But  do  they  give  you  enough  here  to  keep  you  if  you 
weren't  boarding  at  home  ?  "  . 

"  They  treat  me  sumptuously.  I  get  twenty-five  dollars 
a  month,  and  I  might  board  round  free  if  I  wanted 
to.  Every  day  one  or  other  of  the  children  wants  me  to 
go  home  with  her.  I  assure  you,  Mr.  McAllister,  it  is 
considered  a  great  honour  to  walk  home  with  the  teacher ; 
so,  although  you  have  the  temerity  to  take  the  schoolhouse 
by  storm,  all  others  are  most  respectful.  I'm  company 
when  I  go  to  places,  and  am  shown,  into  the  parlour,  which 
has  the  blinds  up  for  the  occasion.  To-day  I  went 
home  to  dinner  with  one  little  girl — a  long-promised  visit 
— and  had  good  things  to  eat." 

"  Well,  then,  Connie,  have  some  mercy  on  a  hungry 
man.  I'll  tell  you  what  I  want  you  to  do.  We  will  walk 
to  Stormboro,  and  then  you  will  come  with  me  to  the  best 
restaurant  in  the  place,  and  we'll  have  a  most  glorious 
supper." 

"  Oh,  no,  no,  I  couldn't  think  of  such  a  thing.  It  would 
be  all  over  the  town  before  two  hours  were  passed.  No, 
it  would  be  much  better  to  brave  the  Douglas  in  his  hall 
and  come  to  our  house.  We  could  have  supper  there ;  I 
can  guarantee  you  that." 

"  But  I  don't  want  to  make  it  uncomfortable  for  you, 
Connie." 

"  I  am  sure  you  don't,  so  that  is  why  our  going  to  any 
public  place  in  this  small  town  is  impossible.  Do  you  say 
you're  hungry?"  cried  the  girl,  springing  to  her  feet,  the 
yearning  desire  of  woman  to  feed  her  mankind  being 
aroused  by  his  admission  of  starvation.  "  It's  early  yet." 

"  Early  for  tea,  perhaps,  but  mighty  late  for  luncheon." 

"  O  you  poor  boy,  do  you  mean  to  say  that  you  have 
had  nothing  since  breakfast  time?" 

"  You  see  I  didn't  exactly  know  where  this  'temple  of 
learning  was  situated.  Your  letters  were  vague  on  the 
subject,  and  I  couldn't  very  well  go  round  town  ask- 
ing, because  I'm  pretty  generally  known  in  the  place,  and 


172  The  Victors 

that  would  be  as  bad  as  dining  out  together,  so  I  avoided 
Stormboro,  circulating  round  it  in  search  of  the  school- 
house  by  the  wood,  and  thus  I  missed  my  meal,  without 
really  remembering  I  had  done  so,  until  I  pictured  you 
sitting  at  a  table  with  me,  and  then  I  knew  I  was  hungry." 

"  O  dear,  O  dear,  how  inhospitable  I  have  been !  " 
cried  Constance.  "  My  poor  boy  shall  be  fed,  and  that 
right  away.  You  see  this  wonderful  room  has  all  the 
resources  of  a  restaurant — that  is,  whenever  I  go  with  one 
of  my  little  girls  to  be  her  guest  during  the  noon  hour, 
for  on  those  days  my  own  school  luncheon  is  untouched." 

She  hurriedly  shoved  his  arms  off  the  desk,  and  leaning 
as  he  was  upon  them  she  almost  overthrew  him  in  her 
haste,  at  which  they  both  laughed.  Every  incident  was 
subject  for  mirth  between  the  joyous  two.  She  raised  the 
lid  of  the  desk  and  took  out  the  deceptive  music  roll,  also 
a  little  spirit  lamp  and  a  tiny  tin  kettle.  She  rilled  the 
lamp  from  a  bottle  that  smelled  suspiciously  of  whisky. 

"What  have  you  got  there?"  asked  Ben.  "Alcohol? 
Little  girls  should  not  meddle  with  anything  so  dangerous. 
Think  how  it  would  read  in  the  papers,  '  Another  young 
lady  a  victim  of  the  alcohol  habit.' ''' 

"  Oh,  there's  no  danger.  Everything  has  its  use,  and 
besides  I  am  giving  you  a  great  moral  lesson,  an  angel 
of  light  conjured  up  by  the  powers  of  darkness ;  alcohol 
assisting  in  the  making  of  tea !  Still,  for  safety,  I  always 
place  the  lamp  on  the  iron  top  of  the  stove,  so  that  if  it 
does  blaze  up  or  explode  or  anything  of  that  sort,  there 
will  be  no  danger  of  my  setting  the  place  on  fire  and 
destroying  other  people's  property." 

The  miniature  kettle  was  soon  steaming,  and  the  deft 
young  housekeeper  lost  little  time  in  brewing  the  tea. 

"  One  of  the  girls  brings  me  a  jug  of  cream  every 
morning  by  special  arrangement,"  continued  the  house- 
wife, as  she  set  forth  the  one  cup  and  saucer,  "  and  this 
I  keep  in  the  corner  of  my  desk  till  it  is  needed.  At  first 
I  upset  it  once  or  twice,  in  unthinkingly  rummaging  for 
things,  but  experience  has  taught  carefulness.  How  will 
you  have  it  ?  Sweet  ?  " 

"  Connie,  does  the  adjective  apply  to  me  or  to  the 
state  of  the  tea?" 


"  Journeys  end  in  lovers'  meeting  "       173 

"  As  you  like  to  take  it,  Bennie." 

"  Well,  then,  the  adjective  is  mine,  and  the  tea  is  sweet 
enough  because  you  made  it." 

"  Ah,  that's  returning  my  adjective  very  nicely,  Ben. 
Now  for  a  hungry  man  I  fear  this  luncheon  is  rather 
scanty." 

She  unrolled  from  the  whitest  of  linen  napkins  some 
dainty  slices  of  bread  and  butter  and  a  piece  of  cake. 

"  But  aren't  you  going  to  share  ?  " 

"  Oh,  I'll  have  a  sip  of  tea  from  the  saucer ;  you  shall 
have  the  cup." 

"  Not  so,  Connie.  It  isn't  according  to  the  customs  of 
the  best  society  in  which  we  move,  to  its  adornment,  to 
drink  out  of  the  saucer.  You  take  your  sip  from  the  cup, 
and  then  I'll  never  miss  the  sugar."  And  thus  these  two 
foolish  people  talked  and  acted,  for  they  were  very  young 
and  exceedingly  fond  of  each  other,  and  if  any  one  is 
inclined  to  criticise  them,  let  it  be  remembered  that  school 
was  closed  for  the  session,  and  no  one  really  had  any  right 
in  that  room  but  themselves ;  the  girl  because  she  was 
technically  in  charge  of  the  school  property  of  the  district, 
and  he,  because  he  was  her  guest.  So  it's  really  no  busi- 
ness of  ours.  We  sensible  people  are  not  responsible. 
And  thus  tne  china  cup  passed  between  them  oftener  than 
I  am  going  to  set  down  here,  amidst  subdued  laughter, 
until  suddenly  it  was  arrested  in  the  midair  by  a  knock 
at  the  door — a  knock  that  sent  the  colour  flying  from  the 
cheeks  of  the  girl,  and  brought  quick  fright  into  her 
lustrous  eyes. 

"  H — s — h,"  she  whispered  under  her  breath,  laying  her 
disengaged  hand  on  his,  and  thus  they  both  sat  in  motion- 
less expectancy. 

"  Have  you  gone,  Miss  Fraser?  "  cried  a  voice  outside. 
"  I  have  my  buggy  here  and  am  going  into  town.  Have  a 
ride?" 

There  was  suspense  for  a  moment  or  two ;  the  outsider 
turned  the  knob  of  the  door;  then  they  heard  his  foot- 
steps departing. 

"Well,  now,  I'd  just  like  to  know  who  that  is,"  said 
Ben,  taking  the  precaution,  however,  to  speak  low.  "  Who 


174  The  Victors 

in  this  neighbourhood  thinks  he  has  the  right  to  ask  my 
girl  to  go  out  for  a  buggy  ride?  " 

"  Hush,"  repeated  the  girl. 

"  I'm  going  to  see  who  it  is.  I'm  going  to  demand  an 
explanation.  Do  let  me  have  just  one  peep  through  the 
blinds." 

"  Will  you  keep  quiet  ?  You  mustn't  move  a  blind,  now 
that  they  are  down,  and  we  must  get  away  from  here  as 
soon  as  possible.  I  don't  know  who  it  is.  It's  just  the 
kindness  of  one  of  the  neighbours,  who  wanted  to  give  me 
a  lift  on  the  road  home,  and  if  we  don't  start  at  once  we'll 
very  likely  meet  him  returning." 

"  That's  what  it  is  to  have  a  guilty  conscience.  Con. 
You  see  how  calm  and  possessed  I  am.  I  don't  care  how 
many  of  the  neighbours  we  meet,  so  I  propose  we  wait 
here  till  it  is  dark,  and  then  sneak  into  Stormboro ;  all  on 
your  account,  you  know.  I'm  perfectly  happy  where  I 
am.  This  is  the  best  place  I've  struck  for  a  year." 

"  No,  Ben ;  you  wouldn't  be  happy.  There's  nothing 
more  to  eat." 

"  Now,  Connie,  I  call  that  right  down  mean.  You  evi- 
dently believe  in  the  truth  of  the  old  saying  that  if  you 
want  to  keep  a  man  good-natured  you  must  feed  the 
brute.  But  you  should  not  say  unkind  things  to  the 
brute  after  you've  fed  him,  Miss  Constance  Fraser.  How 
deferentially  that  intruder  with  his  braggart  buggy  said 
'  Miss  Fraser ! ' : 

"  Yes,  you  might  take  a  lesson  from  him,  Ben." 

"  I'll  give  him  a  lesson  if  I  catch  him  proposing  buggy 
rides  to  my  girl  before  I  have  a  buggy  of  my  own.  He 
should  play  fair." 

"  We  must  go,  we  must  go.  I'll  venture  out  first,  and 
see  that  the  road  is  clear,  and  if  it  is,  you  are  to  follow 
like  a  stealthy  second  conspirator." 

Constance  had  cleared  away  the  tea  things  and  was 
nervously  putting  on  her  hat  as  she  said  this,  while 
he  tried  in  vain  to  induce  her  to  stay  longer.  Her  con- 
fidence in  the  seclusion  of  the  place  was  gone,  and  she 
could  not  conceal  her  anxiety  to  get  away. 

"  Come,"   she  cried   from  the    outside ;   "  all's   clear. 


"  Journeys  end  in  lovers'  meeting  "     175 

Come,  or  I  will  lock  you  in,  and  then  you  will  have  to  get 
out  of  the  window,  and  run  the  risk  of  being  taken  up  as 
a  burglar." 

When  he  joined  her  she  continued: 

"  I  can  breathe  easier  now  that  we  are  on  the  high  road. 
I  fear  I  lack  courage  for  the  surreptitious,  delightful 
though  it  may  be.  I  think  too  much  of  what  the  world 
says." 

"  That's  conventional,  Connie." 

"  I  know  it  is.  I  told  you  I  was  a  commonplace  person, 
and  hope  you  may  realise  the  fact  before  it  is  too  late, 
poor,  deluded  Bennie." 

"  Oh,  little  Bennie  will  take  care  of  himself,  don't  you 
worry.  And  now,  Connie,  I  suppose  you  are  going  to 
dismiss  me  before  we  get  to  the  town,  that  you  may 
walk  through  its  streets  alone,  hypocrite  that  you  are,  as 
if  you  never  knew  me." 

"  Certainly.    That  is  part  of  the  conventionality." 

"  Ah,  well,  it  can't  be  helped,  and  I  have  the  consolation 
of  knowing  we  have  still  two  miles  of  a  walk  before  us." 

"  I  must  lock  the  schoolhouse  door  first,"  which  she 
did,  and  then  they  walked  together  to  the  high  road,  the 
young  woman  drawing  a  deep  sigh  of  relief  because  the 
retreat  had  been  achieved  unseen. 

"  How  fortune  does  favour  hypocrites,  Bennie !  " 

"  Use  the  singular,  if  you  please,  teacher.  There's  only 
one  hypocritter  here.  The  other  is  a  bold,  bad  man,  who 
doesn't  care  if  all  the  world  sees  him.  He  isn't  ashamed 
to  walk  beside  his  girl,  anywhere." 

"  It's  all  very  well  for  you  to  talk  big,  my  dear  young 
man.  You  are  defying  the  world  in  general,  which  is 
quite  a  different  thing  to  defying  the  world  in  particular. 
You  are  a  citizen  at  large,  but  I  am  a  mere  local  person, 
and  this  town  is  my  particular  world.  Does  your  clumsy 
masculine  mind  see  the  difference,  or  is  the  distinction 
too  subtle  for  you  ?  " 

"  The  clumsy  masculine  mind  appreciates  the  situation, 
and  proposes  a  remedy.  Say,  Connie,  let  us  bolt  to  New 
York  together,  and  there  disdain  the  great  world  and 
ignore  the  little  world.  Let's  elope,  Connie.  What's  the 
use  of  waiting  ?  " 


176  The  Victors 

"  Agreed,"  cried  the  girl,  with  a  merry  laugh,  "  but  I 
haven't  drawn  my  salary  yet,  so,  of  course,  you  have 
money  for  two,  and  I  thought  peddling  had  been  a 
failure." 

"Money!"  shouted  the  confidence  of  youth;  "there's 
nothing  in  the  world  so  easy  to  make  as  money.  Look 
at  this." 

McAllister  plunged  his  hand  into  his  trousers  pocket 
and  drew  out  a  roll  of  wealth  that  certainly  looked  im- 
posing, for  he  had  changed  the  large  denominations  to 
small,  and  a  one-dollar  greenback  is  exactly  the  same 
size  as  a  thousand-dollar  bill.  Ben  found  it  as  necessary 
to  feed  his  imagination  as  to  feed  his  body,  and  the  bulk 
of  the  roll  gave  him  a  pleasure  in  handling  it. 

"  Dear  me,'"  said  Miss  Fraser,  in  astonishment,"  where 
did  you  get  all  that  ?  " 

Ben's  imagination  waved  its  optimistic  hand  metaphor- 
ically in  the  air  and  boasted,  for  the  future  was  quite  as 
real  to  it  as  the  present  or  the  past,  and  in  the  future  Ben 
was  a  millionaire,  with  waggon-loads  of  money. 

"  Oh,  that !  That's  merely  the  first  instalment  of  what 
is  waiting  for  me  in  New  York.  I'm  to  be  practically  the 
partner  of  a  man  rated  at  five  millions.  Peddling  failed, 
of  course ;  for,  after  all,  peddling  is  merely  peddling.  It  is 
the  man  who  substitutes  a  profit  of  a  thousand  dollars  on  a 
deal  for  a  profit  of  two  cents  on  a  trade  that  gets  rich. 
I'm  going  to  work  with  large  figures  when  I  get  to  New 
York." 

The  girl  stopped  in  her  walk  and  looked  at  her  com- 
panion, his  face  aflush  with  the  discounting  of  the  future. 

"  Why,  Ben,  I'm  awfully  glad  to  hear  that.  I  thought 
I  was  meeting  a  man  who  had  failed,  and  not  one  in  the 
very  current  of  success.  Instead,  then,  of  condoling  with 
you,  I  am  to  congratulate  you." 

Ben's  honesty,  never  long  dormant,  awoke. 

"  Connie,  Connie,  Connie,  I'm  boasting-  again ;  count- 
ing unhatched  chicks,  as  I'm  always  doing.  No,  this  pile 
isn't  as  valuable  as  it  looks.  There's  a  little  over  a  hun- 
dred dollars  here,  and,  so  far  from  being  a  partner  with 
a  very  wealthy  man,  I  am  not  quite  sure  that  I'm.  even  an 


"Journeys  end  in  lovers'   meeting"     177 

employee.  His  last  words  to  me  were  to  expect  nothing. 
But  somehow  I  do  expect';  I  think  it  will  be  all  right;  but 
of  course,  that  remains  to  be  seen.  What  a  braggart  I 
am,  Connie!  Yet  I  think  the  reason  is  the  stimulating 
influence  of  your  presence.  It's  the  exaggeration  of  the 
desire  to  have  one's  girl  think  well  of  one." 

"  And  do  you  imagine  the  girl's  liking  for  you  rests  on 
a  financial  basis,  Ben  ?  " 

"  No ;  but  it  does  rest  on  a  basis  of  capability,  doesn't 
it,  Connie?  You  wouldn't  care  to  find  out  that  I  was  a  no- 
account  person,  now,  would  you  ?  " 

"  I'm  afraid  that  makes  very  little  difference,  Ben. 
One's  preference  does  not  seem  based  on  reasons  or  on 
logic;  otherwise  so  many  no-account  men,  as  you  call 
them,  would  not  have  doting  and  faithful  wives,  poor 
things." 

"  Who  ?     The  men  or  the  wives  ?  " 

"  I  am  sorry  for  both.  What  a  hopeless  thing  it  must 
be  to  have  a  worthless  husband,  and  yet  love  him — to 
find  him  untrustworthy — to  be  completely  disillusion- 
ised— and  yet — and — yet — " 

"  To  stick  by  him,  Connie.     Would  you  do  that?" 

"  For  better  or  for  worse  is  the  promise  a  woman 
makes ;  for  richer  or  for  poorer." 

"  Well,  Connie,  that  let's  us  out.  We  could  hardly 
be  poorer,  could  we?" 

"  Tell  me  about  this  New  York  man.  How  did  you 
become  acquainted  with  him?  Where  did  you  meet 
him?" 

"  I'm  saving  that  story  for  to-morrow,  Connie.  It's 
a  to-be-continued-in-our-next  yam,  and  I'm  not  going  to 
spoil  it  now  that  our  walk  is  coming  to  an  end.  No, 
there  are  more  important  things  to  arrange.  Now,  I  want 
you  to  give  me  to-morrow,  all  to  myself.  Let  us  take 
an  early  train  and  go  out  to  Oriel  lake.  There's  a  tavern 
on  its  picturesque  banks,  as  perhaps  you  remember,  where 
we  can  have  a  nice  luncheon,-with  fresh  fish  that  are  at 
this  moment  sporting  in  the  crystal  waters,  and  some  po- 
tatoes fried  in  cream.  I'll  get  a  boat,  and  we'll  simply 
dawdle  all  day  in  the  coves  and  bays  of  the  lake,  except 
when  we  are  at  luncheon.  How  does  that  strike  you  ?  " 
12 


1 78  The  Victors 

For  some  moments  the  girl  walked  along  beside  him, 
her  head  down,  in  deep  thought.  She  sighed  at  last,  and 
said: 

"  There  are  difficulties  in  the  way,  Ben.  I  should  like 
to  spend  the  day  with  you  out  there,  but  there  may  be 
some  picnic  afoot,  and  the  whole  town  may  empty  itself 
along  the  shores  of  the  lake." 

;<  Then  we'll  turn  back  and  enjoy  the  empty  town." 

"  Oh,  it's  easy  for  you  to  laugh  at  me,  Ben,  but  you 
must  remember  that  I  have  to  live  here." 

"  For  a  while,  yes." 

"  I  have  to  live  here,  and  I  don't  want  people  talking 
about  me." 

"  Aren't  you  just  a  little  too  sensitive  on  that  point, 
Constance  ?  " 

"  Very  likely.  We  women  are  what  we  are,  Ben,  and 
we  can't  very  well  help  ourselves.  If  you  were  received 
at  my  home  as  you  should  be,  everything  would  be  so 
different ;  but  since  'tis  as  'tis — 

"  Why,  then,  we  must  make  the  best  of  it,  and  not  be 
cheated  out  of  our  rights.  Constance,  you  frighten  me 
with  your  deep  respect  for  the  opinions  of  others  regard- 
ing actions  that  are  our  own  affairs  entirely.  Are  we  to 
be  treated  forever  as  if  we  were  children?  Has  it  gone 
out  of  the  fashion  at  Stormboro  for  a  young  man  to  walk 
out  with  a  young  woman  ?  " 

"  I  know,  I  know.  I  hate  to  do  anything  that  has  even 
the  appearance  of  being  underhanded.  I  want  to  go  with 
you,  of  course,  but  I  feel  that  the  right  thing  to  do,  and 
the  honest  thing  to  do,  would  be  to  say  to-night  to  my 
father :  '  Mr.  McAllister  has  come  from  Chicago  to  see 
me.  He  is  going  on  to  New  York  very  soon,  and  we 
may  not  meet  again  for  a  long  time,  so  I  propose  to  spend 
the  day  with  him  to-morrow  at  Oriel  lake,  and  he  will 
call  here  at  nine  in  the  morning  to  take  me.'  That's  what 
I  should  do  and  say,  but,  frankly,  I  haven't  the  courage." 

"  Why?  He  couldn't  whip  you,  as  if  you  were  one  of 
his  own  pupils.  I  like  a  straightforward  course  myself. 
Why  not  do  it  ?  " 

"  Oh,  it's  easy  to  say  '  why.'     He  would  make  things 


"  Journeys  end  in  lovers'  meeting  "       179 

very  unpleasant  for  me  and  for  mother,  who,  he  would 
think,  was  aiding  and  abetting  me.  It  is  a  man's  priv- 
ilege to  make  himself  disagreeable,  and,  alas,  most  of 
them  seem  to  know  just  how  to  do  it." 

"  Oh,  there  are  large  exceptions,  Connie.  But  look  here. 
Suppose  in  a  year  or  two  I  am  in  a  fair  way  of  making 
all  the  money  we  shall  need,  and  that  I  come  to  Storm- 
boro  to  claim  my  wife.  Suppose  your  father  still  objects, 
what  are  you  going  to  no  ?  Are  you  going  to  say  to  him, 
'  Oh,  well,  it  doesn't  really  matter.  Ben  can  get  someone 
else  and  so  can  I.  We'll  call  this  match  off  ?  ' ' 

"  Now,  Ben,  you  know  that  kind  of  talk  is  unfair.  You 
see,  after  all,  every  man.  has  his  own  way  of  being  dis- 
agreeable." 

"  Is  that  disagreeable?  Well,  Connie,  I  want  to  know. 
Your  father  is  an  obstinate  man.  He  doesn't  like  me, 
and  he  never  will.  What  are  you  going  to  do  when  it 
comes  to  the  final  pinch  ?  " 

"  You  said  yourself  that  you  were  going  to  make  him 
proud  to  own  you  as  a  son-in-law." 

"  Oh,  certainly,  but  that  will  be  after  we  are  married. 
I'm  no  son-in-law  till  then ;  and  if  your  respect  for  your 
father's  commands  holds  good,  then  I  must  admit  that  my 
chances  look  blue." 

"  I  have  every  hope  that  he  will  relent  when  he  sees 
that  he  faces  the  inevitable.  Until  the  inevitable  comes, 
then,  I  want  to  meet  his  approval  as  far  as  I  can.  'Honour 
thy  father  and  thy  mother,'  you  know,  Ben,  and  surely 
you  would  be  the  last  one  to  make  me  disobey  a  command- 
ment as  unequivocally  stated — the  only  commandment  of 
all  the  ten  so  important  that  it  has  a  promise  attached  to 
it." 

"  That's  so,  Constance,  that's  so ;  but  up  to  a  certain 
point  only,  for  you  must  not  forget  other  texts  that  have 
a  bearing  on  our  case.  A  man  is  commanded  to  leave 
father  an4  mother  and  cleave  to  his  wife,  and  it  is  a  poor 
text  that  doesn't  work  both  ways  and  include  the  woman 
as  well.  Now,  I  repeat,  what  are  you  going  to  do,  Con- 
stance, when  it  comes  to  a  deadlock  between  your  father's 
will  and  your  own  wish?" 


180  The  Victors 

"  Mr.  McAllister,  I  think  one  reason  my  father  took 
such  an  objection  to  you  was  that  you  were  always  so 
expert  at  capping  one  text  with  another ;  and  as  he  is 
rather  given  to  texts  himself,  it  was  not  likely  he  was 
going  to  stand  that  from  a  student  in  his  class,  even  if 
that  student  had  been  theological,  which  you  were  not. 
So  I  will  cap  your  text  with  a  third,  which  is  '  Sufficient 
unto  the  day  is  the  evil  thereof ;'  we  will  cross  that  bridge 
when  we  come  to  it." 

"  But  I  want  to  know,"  persisted  the  young  man. 

"  Now  who  is  obstinate  ?  " 

"  Not  I.  I  am  merely  making  a  request  for  infor- 
mation. The  person  who  refuses  to  give  it  is  obstinate, 
if  you  like." 

"  Well,  if  you  will  dip  into  the  future,  it  is  much  more 
important  to  discuss  what  will  happen  when  your  will  and 
mine  come  into  collision.  That  might  happen  often, 
while  there  could  be  trouble  with  my  father  but  once. 
What  will  happen  then,  Bennie  ?  " 

"  Oh,  that's  easy.  •  I'll  give  way  at  once.  Ask  me  an- 
other, or  rather  answer  my  question.  Why  are  you 
afraid  to  say  what  you'll  do  when  the  crisis  comes  between 
your  father  and  me  ?  " 

"  Stupid  young  man,  with  all  your  supposed  alertness. 
I  have  answered  your  question,  my  dear  boy." 

"  You  haven't,  Connie.  You  avoided  it  with  an  alert- 
ness quite  equal  to  my  supposed  own." 

"  When  I  discussed  certain  eventualities  in  our  mar- 
ried life,  I  gave  you  my  reply,  although  you  didn't  com- 
prehend. And  now,  Ben,  I  think  you  have  come  far 
enough  with  me.  I  had  better  go  the  rest  of  the  way 
alone,  for  we  are  approaching  the  town." 

"  But  how  about  to-morrow,  Connie  ?  You're  surely 
not  going  to  have  me  mope  around  town  all  alone,  or  go 
off  to  New  York  without  seeing  you  again.  Won't  you 
risk  that  lake  excursion  for  my  sake  ?  " 

"  I'm  tempted  to  risk  it  for  my  own,  Ben.  Where  are 
you  going  to  stay  to-night  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know.     At  some  dollar-a-day  place." 

"  Suppose  you  go  out  to  the  lake  to-night  and  stop 


"  Journeyb  end  in  lovers'  meeting  "       181 

at  that  little  hotel.  Then  to-morrow,  if  there  is  no  one 
there  by  eleven  o'clock,  there  won't  be  that  day,  so  you 
telegraph  me  and  I'll  come  in  time  for  luncheon." 

"  All  right ;  but  I  think  we  can  better  that.  Come  on 
the  first  train  and  we'll  risk  the  crowd.  If  there  is  a 
crowd,  we'll  saunter  off  into  the  country  and  let  them 
have  their  lake.  It's  an  artificial  body  of  water  anyhow." 

With  an  air  of  sudden  decision,  the  girl  held  out  her 
hand,  and  said.  "  Very  well,  Ben,  I'll  do  that.  So  good- 
bye until  to-morrow." 

She  turned  from  him  and  walked  briskly  toward  the 
town,  never  once  looking  back. 


CHAPTER  II 

"  A     STRANGER     IN     THIS     CITY     HERE  " 

"  So  this  is  New  York !  Lord,  what  a  stronghold  for 
one  poorly  equipped  man  to  attack !  " 

Monro  stood  at  the  very  front  of  the  ferry-boat,  breast 
up  against  the  extended  iron  lattice  work  that  shut  off 
bustling  humanity  from  the  hurrying  tide  through  which 
the  powerful  steamer  was  forcing  its  way,  piling  up  heaps 
of  creamy  foam  with  its  blunt  front,  to  fall  away  in  fleecy 
lines  on  either  hand  and  disappear  under  the  pattering 
blades  of  the  paddle  wheels.  The  steamer  had  come  out 
from  between  environments  of  tall  piles,  clamped  to- 
gether in  twc  embracing  walls,  opening  and  yawning 
toward  New  York ;  walls  that  seemed  to  have  a  strange 
flexibility,  swaying  loosely  in  the  water  when  shouldered 
by  the  broad  gunwales.  These  two  high  walls  of  knitted 
timber  presented  outstretched  arms  to  the  incoming  boat, 
giving  way  to  her  impetuosity  as  she  rushed  into  the 
embrace,  then  gradually  tightening  on  her  until  at  last 
the  craft  was  clasped  close  and  firm.  The  ferry-boat,  with 
a  continued  low,  menacing  moan  that  was  a  warning  to 
anything  floating  outside,  moved  slowly  out  of  the  wooden 
crevasse,  and,  once  clear  of  the  timber  canyon,  the  amaz- 
ing sight  of  long-stretched  New  York  burst  suddenly 
upon  him,  fronted  by  the  panorama  of  the  broad  and 
noble  river.  A  salt  breeze  new  to  his  inland  senses  came 
up  from  the  bay,  and  for  the  first  time  in  his  life  he  saw 
the  floating  majesty  of  an  ocean  liner.  The  animation 
of  the  wide  river  enthralled  him :  the  shuttle-like  ferries 
weaving  the  threads  of  human  intercourse  between  shore 
and  shore ;  the  island  clusters  of  brown  barges  and 
massed  canal-boats,  with  canvas  windmills  whirling,  the 
domestic  effect  afloat  of  the  week's  wash  hung  on  lines 
183 


"A  stranger  in  this  city  here"         183 

fluttering  like  rows  of  white  flags  in  the  breeze ;  the  rail- 
way ferries,  each  with  a  train  aboard,  and  an  unseen  tug 
on  the  other  side,  its  invisibility  adding  mystery  to  the 
motion  of  the  shapeless  hulk.  But  most  attractive  of  all 
to  him  was  the  swan-like  gracefulness  of  a  passenger 
steamer,  dazzling  as  a  snow-drift  on  the  waters ;  a  bride 
of  the  billows,  a  sylph  of  the  stream ;  the  rapid  paddle 
wheels  fluttering  like  the  drumming  of  a  partridge  wing, 
very  music  of  motion,  with  the  slow,  dignified,  rhythmical 
up-rising  and  down-falling  of  the  walking  beam,  beating 
time  athwart  the  sky  line,  an  orchestral  symphony  afloat ; 
the  most  beautiful  creation  that  man  has  trusted  to  the 
bosom  of  the  tide,  its  airy,  cloud-vision  of  whiteness  blend- 
ing well  with  the  blue  of  sky  and  water,  possessing  all 
the  swiftness  of  the  skimming  swallow,  and  all  the  dig- 
nity of  a  gracious  lady;  a  fair  goddess  of  the  gentle, 
lapping  wave. 

Then,  as  if  they  were  gulls  blown  in  from  sea,  the  sail- 
ing ships  came  racing  up  the  tideway  before  the  salt 
wind,  the  tall  masts  swaying  as  shore-new  sailors  sway 
who  have  not  yet  lost  their  sea  legs,  the  rising  and  dip- 
ping prows  retaining  still  in  their  heave  a  suggestion  of 
the  motion  of  the  ocean,  the  whiffs  from  the  black  hulls 
carrying  an  aroma  of  something  tarry  and  foreign. 

But  the  background  of  this  stirring  picture,  the  far-ex- 
tending, hard,  clear-cut  outline  of  the  city,  persistently 
impressed  itself  upon  the  young  man's  consciousness,  and 
chilled  the  pleasure  he  felt  in  the  contemplation  of  the 
marine  spectacle  playing  out  its  unending  drama  before 
the  fixed  back  curtain.  The  city  seemed  rigid,  cruel,  un- 
relenting. The  smoke  of  sacrifice  hovered  above  it ;  every 
palpitating  steamer,  every  rushing  express  brought  new 
victims  to  its  reeking  altars.  This  great,  elongated,  civic 
cannibal  lay  motionless  and  surfeited  with  the  humanity 
it  had  consumed  and  was  consuming;  yet  never  replete; 
always  unsatisfied. 

There  is  nothing  more  heroic  in  the  annals  of  mankind 
than  the  adventuring  of  a  youth  against  the  fortress  of  a 
mighty  city,  himself  practically  unarmed.  He  enlists  as 
a  private  in  a  campaign  whose  death-roll  is  so  heavy  that 


184  The  Victors 

no  record  can  be  kept  of  it,  thus  differing  from  every  other 
battle  that  calls  for  courage  and  endurance.  He  is  not 
sure  even  of  his  rations;  he  may  ask  for  bread,  and  get 
only  the  stone  pavement  under  his  weary  feet.  Yet  day 
by  day  he  enters  unflinchingly  into  the  strife,  not  knowing 
whether  he  will  scale  the  battlements  or  fall  unremem- 
bered  into  the  trenches.  He  belongs  to  a  regiment  which 
has  no  esprit  de  corps  and  no  commander,  where  every 
man  fights  for  his  own  hand,  and  where  there  is  no  am- 
bulance brigade.  For  its  own  safety  the  city  will  bury 
him  when  he  is  dead,  but  that  is  all  he  csm>  rely  upon. 

The  ferry-boat  slowed  into  the  outstretched  arms  of 
the  slip,  elbowing  its  way  in,  heaved  gently  to  right  or  to 
left  as  it  rubbed  shoulders  against  the  yielding  piles  on 
this  side  or  on  that.  There  was  the  clanking  lowering  of 
the  drawbridge  to  this  grim  fortress,  the  uplifting  of  the 
iron  gates,  and  then  the  sudden  surge  of  the  crowd  land- 
ward, as  if  a  moment  lost  were  gone  forever,  as  indeed 
it  is ;  and  nowhere  is  this  fact  so  energetically  realised  as 
on  the  incoming  of  a  New  York  ferry  steamer.  From 
afar  off  Jim  had  heard  the  low  murmur  that  was  the  citv's 
voice;  now  he  was  in  the  midst  of  the  deafening  roar  of 
it.  The  grinding  wheels  of  the  trucks  on  the  cobble- 
stones seemed  a  modern  type  of  the  Indian  Juggernaut 
rollers;  but  here  people  dodged  them,  and  did  not  fall 
with  fatalistic  apathy  underneath  them,  so  perhaps  that 
difference  was  also  typical  and  encouraging. 

The  excitement  and  noise  and  bustle  and  hurry  had 
rather  a  depressing  than  a  stimulating  influence  on  Mon- 
ro's  nerves.  He  seemed  so  hopelessly  out  of  it  all.  Every- 
body else  was  rushing  toward  some  definite  task ;  at  least 
they  all  acted  as  if  they  were,  and  he  was  an  outsider. 
It  did  not  appear  possible  that  anyone  wanted  anything 
from  him  for  which  the  purchaser  was  willing  to  pay  good 
money.  Never  before  had  he  felt  himself  absolutely  of  no 
account  in  the  world — a  helpless,  floating  atom  of  no  par- 
ticular use,  and  with  no  niche  needing  him.  His  belief 
in  the  existence  of  Glassthrop  &  Co.  faded;  somehow  it 
had  become  incredible  that  any  particular  firm,  man- 
aged by  any  particularly  real  people,  could  have  its  home 


"A  stranger  in  this  city  here  "         185 

in  this  pandemonium  on  whose  threshold  he  stood  thus 
hesitating  which  way  to  turn.  It  could  not  be  pos- 
sible that  any  one  atom  in  this  hive  knew  any  other 
atom ;  knew  its  name,  knew  where  it  lived.  And 
how  far  beyond  the  limits  of  credence  was  the  thought 
of  a  man  meeting  anyone  he  had  known  in  some  other 
sphere  of  existence.  Just  as  he  had  reached  this  stage 
of  cogitation  the  impossible  happened,  ushered  in  by 
a  heavy  hand  falling  on  his  unsuspecting  shoulder,  while 
a  strident,  confident  voice  cried : 

"  Well,  I'm  damned  if  it  ain't  Jim  Monro,  standing 
sound  asleep  in  the  middle  of  the  sidewalk.  I  say,  Jim, 
old  fellow,  it's  a  sight  for  sore  eyes  to  see  you.  When 
did  you  drift  along  this  way?  Just  in?  " 

"  Just  in,"  repeated  Jim,  taking  the  extended  hand  of 
Pat  Maguire.  All  his  deep  distrust  and  dislike  of  Pat 
was  gone,  and  he  placed  his  disengaged  hand  on  Ma- 
guire's  shoulder  with  a  cordiality  equal  to  that  with  which 
he  had  been  so  boisterously  greeted.  Little  did  he  dream 
during  their  last  encounter  that  he  would  so  soon  wel- 
come this  man  as  his  dearest  friend.  "  And  where  did 
you  spring  from  ?  I  thought  you  intended  to  drive  across 
Ohio,  Pennsylvania  and  Jersey  to  New  York.  You 
have  surely  never  done  it  in  this  time." 

The  other  shouted  loud  with  laughter,  as  if  Jim  had 
said  something  more  than  ordinarily  funny,  but  this  was 
only  an  expression  of  comradeship  and  good  feeling.  He 
was  evidently  as  glad  to  see  Jim  as  Jim  was  to  welcome 
him. 

"  Drive,  is  it  ?  Lord  love  you,  driving  acrost  three 
States  or  four  is  too  slow  work  for  Pat  Maguire  when 
there's  trains  running.  No,  my  boy,  I  sold  that  Rosen- 
ante  of  yours  for  ten  dollars  more  than  I  gave  for  it, 
and  that  ten  dollars  took  me  most  of  the  way  to  this  ferry 
that  I  just  got  off  of.  You  see  New  York's  a  big  place, 
and  if  a  fellow's  going  to  tackle  it  at  all,  he  mustn't  lose 
any  time.  That's  the  way  I  looked  at  it." 

"  Did  you  come  over  on  this  boat?     I  didn't  see  you. ' 

"  There's  lots  of  things  you  don't  see,  Jim,  me  boy ;  but 
then  by  the  same  token  I  didn't  see  you,  so  we're  square 


1 86  The  Victors 

on  that  head.  I  was  on  the  upper  deck  all  by  myself.  I 
sees  a  ladder  and  up  I  climbs  it.  '  Get  down  out  of  that/ 
says  a  fellow  by  the  wheel  house.  '  You've  no  business 
here,'  says  he.  '  I  want  to  see  the  city  of  New  York,' 
says  I,  wid  a  brogue  about  double  as  thick  as  his  own. 
'  Ye  can  see  New  York  well  enough  down  where  the  rist 
are/  says  he.  '  Thrue  fur  ye/  says  I;  '  but  an  Irishman's 
place  is  above  the  crowd.'  Wid  that  he  laughed.  '  You're 
too  fresh,  me  boy/  he  says,  '  and  you'll  soon  get  yotu 
head  broke  if  ye  keep  on  the  way  you've  started.'  '  If  it 
comes  to  breaking  heads/  says  I,  '  I'm  from  the  very 
country  where  they  'tend  to  that  same  job  eligantly,  and 
the  man  that  breaks  the  head  of  Pat  Maguire  has  got  to 
lift  his  stick  smarter  and  hit  quicker  than  any  fellow  I've 
ever  met  to  this  day/  says  I.  '  Come  in  to  the  pilot- 
house/ says  he,  '  and  make  yourself  at  home/  and  as  it 
was  too  pleasant  an  invitation  to  be  discourteously  re- 
jected I  went  in.  So  I  crossed  the  river  with  the  wheel- 
man, which  is  entirely  agin  the  rules  ov  the  company.  I 
asked  him  down  to  have  a  drink  with  me,  but  he  couldn't 
leave  the  spokes  he  was  twirling,  an'  we're  to  meet  at  a 
saloon  he  gave  me  the  address  of  when  he  comes  off 
duty." 

"  Well,  Pat,  you'll  never  want  friends.  You  make 
a  New  York  friend  even  before  you  enter  the  city." 

"  And  meet  an  old  friend  the  moment  I  put  my  foot 
on  the  shore.  So  let  us  moisten  our  acquaintance  and 
have  a  drink  over  our  runnin'  agin  each  other,  and  good 
luck  to  both  of  us." 

"  I'm  not  much  on  the  drink,  but  I'll  go  you  a  lemon- 
ade or  glass  of  pop." 

"  Pop  goes  the  weasel,"  cried  Pat,  with  great  contempt. 
"  You  can't  take  New  York  by  storm  on  lemonade.  No, 
we'll  have  beer  or  .nothing.  Come  along." 

They  went  together  across  the  front  street  and  into 
a  saloon  that  stood  at  the  corner.  The  street  was  a  most 
disreputable-looking  thoroughfare,  a  howling  wilderness 
of  traffic  and  truck  loads  of  freight,  but  the  interior  of 
the  saloon  was  not  as  repulsive  as  Jim  expected  to  find  it 
in  such  a  locality.  There  was  a  sprinkling  of  sawdust 


"A  stranger  in  this  city  here  "          187 

on  the  floor.  The  counter  that  ran  across  the  room  was 
of  polished  mahogany,  elaborately  decorated  with  mould- 
ings, and  behind  this  bar  was  a  broad  mirror  of  bevelled 
plate  glass,  whose  surface  was  ornamented  with  artistic 
free-hand  scroll  work  done  in  French  chalk.  Before  the 
mirror  was  a  glistening  array  of  many-coloured  glasses 
symmetrically  stacked,  flanked  with  bottles  and  prismatic 
decanters.  At  one  end  of  the  bar  stood  a  basinlike  re- 
ceptacle of  german  silver,  with  two  compartments,  one  of 
which  was  filled  with  broken  crackers  and  the  other  with 
little  squares  of  cheese.  To  this  refection  Maguire  at 
once  helped  himself.  A  handsome  man,  whose  chin  and 
cheeks  were  clean  shaven,  but  who  wore  on  his  lip  a 
heavy  moustache,  stood  behind  the  bar  in  his  shirt  sleeves, 
for  the  day  was  hot,  and  his  shirt  sleeves  were  of  spotless 
whiteness. 

"  And  how  are  you  the  day,  Mike  Doolan  ?  "  cried  Ma- 
guire, with  effusive  friendliness. 

"  I  can't  complain,"  said  Mike,  looking  hard  at  him, 
but  speaking  with  the  hail-fellow-well-met  geniality  of  his 
profession.  He  greeted  so  many  during  the  day  who 
knew  him,  but  whom  he  could  not  himself  recognise,  that 
the  cordial  salutation  of  a  seeming  stranger  was  no 
oddity.  "  Mike,  this  is  my  friend,  Jim  Monro,  who's 
just  this  moment  come  to  New  York." 

"  Happy  to  meet  you,  Mr.  Monro,"  said  the  bartender, 
reaching  his  hand  across  the  counter  and  grasping  that 
of  the  stranger.  Jim  was  so  dumfounded  at  his  comrade's 
impudence,  and  so  much  amazed  at  his  glibness  in  call- 
ing the  bartender  by  name,  wondering  how  he  discovered 
it,  that  he  could  only  mumble  inarticulate  recognition  of 
the  bar-man's  courtesy.  The  latter  had  an  accent  that  in- 
dicated his  nationality,  but  no  brogue,  while  Pat's  brogue 
was  now  as  pronounced  as  if  he  had  landed  that  morning 
on  a  liner  from  Queenstown,  rather  than  from  a  ferry- 
boat sailing  out  of  Jersey. 

"  I  see  fairly  that  you  don't  recollect  me  at  all,"  said 
Pat. 

"  I  recollect  your  face  well  enough,  but  I  don't  just  call 
to  mind  your  name.  However,  I'll  think  of  it  the  minute 
you're  gone.  I  always  do." 


1 88  The  Victors 

"  Oh,  that's  like  enough.     I'm  Pat  Maguire." 

"  Of  course  you  are.  From  the  i/th  ward;  or  is  it  the 
ipth  ? " 

"  From  both  I've  been  this  long  time.  You  know 
Malloy,  surely." 

;<  The  pilot  on  the  ferry  ?     I  know  him  well." 

"  I'm  an  old  friend  of  his,  and  he's  to  meet  me  here  as 
soon  as  his  trick  at  the  wheel  is  over  for  the  day." 

"  Any  friend  of  Malloy's  welcome  at  this  bar." 

"  I  hope,  by  and  by,  to  be  welcome  on  my  own  ac- 
count." 

"  Ye'll  be  that,"  said  the  barkeeper,  with  a  nod  of  ad- 
miration. 

"  We'll  have  a  beer  apiece,  and  what  will  ye  drink  yer- 
self,  Mike?" 

"  I'm  not  drinking  these  days,"  returned  the  bartender, 
"  but  I  wouldn't  mind  a  smoke." 

"  Then  you're  foolish  if  you  don't  choose  the  best  smoke 
you  have  in  your  pile  of  boxes.  A  man  can't  be  too  care- 
ful when  he's  picking  for  himself." 

Maguire,  with  the  air  of  the  president  of  the  First  Na- 
tional Bank,  threw  on  the  counter  a  ten-dollar  bill,  which 
the  barkeeper,  automatically  running  between  finger  and 
thumb  to  test  its  texture,  flung  into  the  till  and  counted 
out  the  change.  He  clipped  off  the  pointed  end  of  the 
cigar  at  a  machine  which  stood  on  the  counter,  then  struck 
a  match.  Maguire  lifted  the  foaming  glass  to  his  lips, 
and  said,  "  Here's  luck  to  us  all."  Jim  had  tasted  beer 
before,  and  this  lager  was  cool  and  refreshing. 

"  Well,  Jim,  where  are  you  going  to  strike  for  first  ?  " 
asked  Pat,  setting  his  glass  on  the  counter. 

"  I  don't  quite  know.  I  was  thinking  of  taking  a 
walk  up  and  down  Broadway,  if  I  can  find  it,"  replied 
Jim. 

"  It's  easily  found,"  put  in  the  barkeeper.  "  Ye  can't 
cross  the  island  without  crossing  Broadway." 

"  Oh,  that's  all  right,"  cried  Patrick,  nonchalantly ; 
"  the  boy  has  something  on  that  he  don't  want  me  to  know 
about.  He  always  was  a  close  fellow,  was  Jim,  and  never 
took  much  of  a  shine  to  me,  but  there's  no  man  on  earth 


"A  stranger  in  this  city  here"          189 

I  would  rather  do  a  good  turn  to  than  Mr.  Monro.  Now, 
Jim,  I'll  give  you  a  pointer.  I  learned  something  comin; 
over  the  river.  I  found  out  that  the  smallest  bit  of  a  tug 
has  the  loudest  whistle.  If  you  hear  a  tremendous  roar, 
and  look  about  ye,  thinking  to  see  the  biggest  and  latest 
liner  from  Liverpool,  ye  find  that  all  the  noise  comes  from 
a  tot  of  a  tug  no  larger  than  yer  fist,  and  bunching  up 
the  white  water  ahead  of  her  like  a  snow  avalanche,  mak- 
ing a  divvil  of  a  fuss,  and  going  just  about  a  third  as  fast 
as  some  of  the  tremendous  ocean  steamers  that's  saying 
nothing  at  all,  at  all.  Just  remember  that  in  New  York." 

"  I  don't  see  the  application  of  your  observation,  Ma- 
guire.  Are  you  advising  me  to  be  the  tug  or  the  liner  ?  " 

"  Well,  the  application  is  general.  If  ye  can't  be  the 
liner,  let  folks  know  yer  in  the  business  by  lifting  up  yer 
bazoo.  Nobody  would  take  any  notice  of  the  tug  if  it 
wasn't  fur  the  hulla-balloo  of  her  whistle." 

"  Will  you  have  another  drink  ?  "  asked  Monro,  chang- 
ing the  subject  and  abandoning  the  simile. 

"  I'm  one  of  these  men  that  never  refuses  anything." 

"  What  will  you  have,  Mr.  Doolan  ?  " 

"  I'll  just  wet  my  mouth  after  this  cigar." 

And  so  they  had  beer  all  round,  and  then  Jim  took 
leave  of  the  two.  Pat  went  with  him  to  the  sidewalk,  and 
there  shook  his  hand. 

"  I'll  just  go  back  and  have  a  little  further  talk  with 
Mike  Doolan,  who  seems  a  decent  sort  of  chap,  and  maybe 
he  can  give  me  a  hint  or  two  that  will  be  worth  having. 
Ye  noticed  I  got  his  name  on  my  tongue's  end  from  Mal- 
loy  on  the  ferry-boat.  It's  all  very  well,  Jim,  to  be  high 
and  mighty,  and  depend  on  one's  self,  but  there's  much 
to  be  picked  up  in  an  amicable  conversation,  if  yer  not 
above  instruction." 

"  I  hope  you  don't  think  I  am  high  and  mighty.  I  give 
you  my  word  I  was  anything  but  depending  strongly  on 
myself  when  you  met  me,  and  I'm  sure  you  saw  I  was  very 
glad  to  fall  in  with  you." 

"  No,  I  was  referring  to  myself  entirely,  and  I  was 
just  as  glad  to  see  you.  Now  I  have  no  address ;  I'm  just 
Maguire  of  Nowhere-at-all,  but  if  you  drop  into  this 


190  The  Victors 

saloon  when  you  get  settled  you'll  likely  hear  of  me,  and 
I'll  do  the  same  by  you.  Who  can  tell  but  maybe  we 
can  help  each  other;  and  if  I  can  there'll  be  nobody 
gladder  than  me,  as  I've  said  once  or  twice  before.  It's 
a  big  city,  and  we're  two  pretty  small  men,  Jim — at  the 
present  time  of  speaking." 

"Thank  you.     I'll  drop  in." 

"  And  where's  the  other  fellow  ?  Have  you  shook 
him  ?  It  never  seemed  to  me  he  amounted  to  much." 

"  He's  coming  through  to  New  York  in  a  day  or  two. 
I  think,  perhaps,  you  underrate  him.  Yov.  don't  know 
him  as  well  as  I  do." 

"  True  for  ye,  true  for  ye,  and  one  shouldn't  be  too  spry 
in  sizing  anybody  up.  Oh,  well,  when  he  comes  ye'll  have 
company  at  least,  and  that's  always  something." 

So  they  shook  hands  again  and  parted,  Pat  returning 
to  the  saloon  and  Jim  striding  east  along  the  side  street 
to  find  Broadway.  Whether  it  was  the  effect  of  the 
meeting  or  the  beer,  he  might  have  been  puzzled  to  decide, 
but  he  went  up  the  street  a  man  more  confident  in  him- 
self and  his  destiny  than  when  he  landed. 

There  was  no  mistaking  Broadway,  once  he  came  to  it. 
Again  the  feeling  of  non-importance  came  over  him,  but 
he  thought  with  a  smile  that  Maguire  would  probably  re- 
gard the  busy  street  with  a  patronising  air,  looking  on  it 
merely  as  an  avenue  leading  to  his  own  ultimate  success. 
Monro  wandered  aimlessly,  jostled  by  the  crowd,  his  ears 
filled  with  the  interminable  roar,  recalling  the  story  of  the 
countryman  who  stood  for  hours  at  a  corner  of  this 
thoroughfare,  waiting  for  the  procession  to  end,  wonder- 
ing what  circus  it  belonged  to,  and  commenting  on  the 
infrequency  of  tne  brass  bands. 

At  last  he  began  to  take  notice  of  the  numbers  over  the 
doors,  and  then  referred  to  the  card  Mitchell  had  given 
him.  It  was  long  before  he  came  to  the  address  on  the 
card,  and  the  building,  when  he  found  it,  was  on  the  op- 
posite side  of  the  street.  He  stood  at  the  edge  of  the  curb 
and  looked  across  at  it,  cogitating  on  what  it  might  con- 
tain for  him.  It  was  a  large,  tall  structure,  and,  to  judge 
by  the  signs,  it  housed  the  offices  of  many  companies. 


"A  stranger  in  this  city  here"         191 

On  the  windows  of  the  second  floor  he  saw,  in  white  let- 
ters, the  name  "  Glassthrop  &  Co."  For  one  brief  mo- 
ment he  thought  of  crossing  and  settling  the  matter  off- 
hand, but  he  reflected  that  if  Mitchell  wrote  a  letter,  it 
could  not  have  come  to  New  York  quicker  than  he  did 
himself,  and  that  it  was  perhaps  better  to  postpone  a  visit 
to  Glassthrop  until  next  morning,  so  with  that  he  again 
took  up  his  slow  parade  until  hunger  made  itself  felt.  He 
searched  the  side  streets  on  the  outlook  for  cheapness, 
and  finally,  after  a  study  of  a  card  of  prices  at  the  door, 
ventured  in  and  was  fed.  One  hour  in  the  afternoon 
found  him  at  Central  Park,  and  a  later  hour  saw  him  gaz- 
ing at  the  incoming  shipping  near  Castle  Garden ;  then  it 
was  time  to  look  out  a  place  to  sleep. 

At  9.30  next  morning  he  presented  himself  at  the  office 
of  Glassthrop  &  Co.  He  entered  an  extensive  room  oc- 
cupied by  numerous  busy  clerks.  With  a  sinking  heart 
he  gave  his  name  to  the  man  who  inquired  for  it,  and 
was  much  cheered  by  the  reply. 

"  Oh,  yes ;  Mr.  Glassthrop  was  expecting  you  this 
morning.  You  are  to  wait  for  him.  He  will  not  be  here 
till  ten." 

With  that  the  clerk  opened  a  door  which  led  to  a  room 
facing  Broadway  and  asked  him  to  take  a  seat,  which  he 
did,  and  was  left  the  sole  occupant.  The  room  was  large 
and  had  two  windows,  each  composed  of  two  sheets  of 
plate  glass,  on  which  he  saw  reversed  the  name  of  the  firm. 
There  were  three  closed  roller-top  desks  in  light  oak,  all 
alike,  and  at  the  back  of  the  room  was  a  huge  black  shiny 
safe,  with  the  name  of  its  makers  in  gayly  coloured  let- 
ters, and  underneath,  in  similar  chromatic  painting,  the 
words  "  Glassthrop  &  Company."  Somehow  this  seemed 
to  lend  importance  o  the  firm,  as  if  the  safe  had  been  es- 
pecially made  for  its  present  position,  as  perhaps  it  was. 
The  round  nickel-plated  knob  glared  at  him  like  the  one 
white  eye  in  the  dark  face  of  a  fabled  giant. 

But  what  most  attracted  his  attention  was  the  fact  that 
from  floor  to  ceiling,  beside  the  safe  and  beside  each  of 
the  three  desks,  hung  a  taut  thick  rope,  fastened  to  a  ring 
in  the  floor  and  a  ring  in  the  ceiling  in  each  instance. 


1 92  The  Victors 

Around  the  room,  braced  out  a  foot  or  more  from  the 
cornice,  was  a  shining  brass  rod,  like  a  rod  from  which 
pictures  are  suspended,  but  here  too  far  from  the  wall 
and  too  thick  to  be  used  for  such  a  purpose.  Indeed,  its 
use  was  plain  enough,  for  over  the  first  desk  there  rested 
on  the  rod  a  small  two-wheeled  trolley,  from  which  de- 
pended a  rope,  at  whose  loose  end  hung  a  padded 
leathern  loop,  as  if  the  occupant  of  the  room  were  in  the 
habit  of  practising  gymnastics  over  the  three  desks. 

Monro  had  hardly  ceased  to  wonder  at  this  extraordi- 
nary equipment  in  a  business  office  when  he  heard  a  slight 
rattle  in  the  Yale  lock  of  the  outer  door,  which  he  noticed 
as  he  passed  it  had  the  word  "  private  "  painted  on  its 
large  pane  of  opaque  ground  glass,  and  the  door  was  flung 
open.  There  entered  a  stout  man  in  a  round  hat,  carry- 
ing in  his  arms  another  man,  who  had  on  his  head  a 
tall,  exquisitely  glossy  silk  hat,  which  somehow  gave  an 
incongruous  appearance  to  the  pair.  The  body  of  the 
man  in  the  other's  arms  was  stalwart,  and  the  head  was 
of  Napoleonic  massiveness,  but  half  of  the  man  was  miss- 
ing ;  he  had  no  legs.  The  attendant  placed  his  burden  on 
an  office  chair,  then  quickly  unlocked  and  rolled  back  the 
lids  of  the  three  office  desks,  displaying  the  usual  array 
of  document-filled  pigeonholes.  He  then  took  his  mas- 
ter's shining  hat  and  hung  it  on  a  peg,  afterward  easily 
lifting  its  owner  and  placing  him  on  the  polished  table 
of  the  first  desk.  Then  he  stood  back,  as  if  awaiting 
further  orders.  The  cripple  spoke  with  sharp  decision  in 
his  voice. 

"  Legs,  I  shall  not  want  the  brougham  again  this  fore- 
noon. Have  it  at  the  door  promptly  at  one  o'clock." 

"  Very  good,  sir,"  answered  the  man  addressed  as 
"  Legs,"  touching  the  rim  of  his  hat  with  his  finger  and 
withdrawing  silently. 

"  You  are  Mr.  Monro,  I  take  it  ?  '' 

"Yes,  sir." 

"  My  name's  Glassthrop.  Mitchell  wrote  me  about 
you.  When  did  you  come  in  ?  " 

"  Yesterday." 

"  Western  man  ?  " 


"  A  stranger  in  this  city  here  "         193 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  Educated  ?  " 

"  In  a  way.     I'm  a  graduate  of  a  college  in  Illinois." 

"  H'm.  What  did  they  teach  you  ?  Anything  practi- 
cal?" 

"  The  usual  course.     I  can  read  and  -/vrite  and  cipher." 

"  Know  anything  of  mathematics  ?  " 

"A  little." 

"Trigonometry  and  that  sort  of  thing?" 

"  I  don't  know  that  I  would  shine  in  an  examination 
on  higher  trigonometry." 

"  Mitchell  told  me  very  little  about  you,  so  I  have  to 
find  out  for  myseh.  Just  bring  here  that  instrument  in 
the  corner  behind  you.  Do  you  know  what  it  is  ?  " 

Monro,  getting  up,  took  from  the  corner  a  brass  mech- 
anism, which  had  three  stout  legs,  with  metal  points  at 
the  ends  of  them.  "  I  don't  know  exactly,  but  it  looks  to 
me  like  a  surveying  instrument.  A  sextant,  perhaps." 

"  It  is  a  surveying  instrument,  but  I  should  call  it  a 
theodolite.  You  know  nothing  about  it,  then  ?  " 

"  No,  sir." 

"  Put  it  back." 

Monro  returned  the  theodolite  to  its  corner.  Glassthrop 
raised  his  right  arm,  grasped  the  leathern  loop  hanging 
from  the  trolley,  drew  up  his  body  apparently  without  an 
effort,  sailed  airily  over  his  own  desk  and  the  next,  com- 
ing down  on  the  third  as  lightly  as  a  feather.  He  took 
from  a  pigeonhole  a  black  leather-covered  thin  book, 
and  returned  to  his  own  desk  in  the  same  way,  as  if 
wafted  back  and  forth  by  magic. 

"  There,"  he  said,  handing  Monro  the  flexible  vol- 
ume, "  that's  Trautwine's  '  Surveying.'  Study  it  when- 
ever you  have  leisure.  It  will  give  you  some  hints  about 
the  use  of  that  instrument  in  the  corner." 

Monro  slipped  the  thin  treatise  into  his  pocket. 

"  I  understood  from  Mitchell's  letter  that  there  were 
two  of  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir.  McAllister,  my  comrade,  is  detained  in  the 
West,  but  will  be  here  in  a  few  days." 

"  What  did  Mitchell  lead  you  to  expect  ?  " 


194  The  Victors 

"  Nothing." 

"  Made  no  mention  of  salary  ?  " 

"  No,  sir." 

"  Quite  right.  Now  I  propose  to  give  you  a  trial, 
though  without  binding  myself  to  anything,  and  for  a 
beginning  I  offer  you  five  dollars  a  day.  Is  that  satis- 
factory ?  " 

"  More  than  satisfactory,  sir." 

"  But,  mind,  you  pay  your  own  expenses.  That  is,  ex- 
cept travelling.  If  I  order  you  to  go  from  here  to  Denver, 
of  course  I  pay  the  railroad  fares,  but  that's  all.  I  won't 
have  any  bills  coming  in  on  me  for  extras  or  six-dollar-a- 
day  hotels.  You  may  go  to  a  six-dollar-a-day  hotel  if  you 
want  to,  but  you  must  pay  the  bill  yourself.  You  under- 
stand that  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  Very  well.  The  theodolite  matter  is  hardly  ripe  yet, 
so  you  will  have  all  the  more  time  for  studying  the  pe- 
culiarities of  the  machine." 

"  May  I  suggest,  sir,  that  if  anything  is  to  depend  on 
the  surveying  I  am  to  do,  it  would  be  better  to  get  an 
expert,  for  I  doubt  if  I  can  acquire  skill  enough  even  by 
constant  study  of  this  book  to — " 

"  Ever  heard  the  story  of  Stephen  Gerrard  and  his 
hired  man?  " 

"  I  don't  know  that  I  have." 

"  Well,  the  man  came  to  him  for  a  job,  and  Gerrard  set 
him  at  throwing  a  pile  of  stones  over  a  wall.  When  that 
was  done  the  man  came  back  and  asked  what  else  there 
was  to  do  about  the  place.  '  Throw  the  stones  back- 
again,'  said  Gerrard.  And  thus  it  went  on  all  day,  part 
of  the  time  the  stones  going  one  way,  and  part  of  the 
time  the  other.  The  man  made  no  comment ;  if  it 
seemed  to  him  a  foolish  business  he  never  let  on.  Gerrard 
hired  him,  and  I  believe  he  ultimately  became  manager 
of  the  Gerrard  business." 

"  You  mean  that  I  am  to  make  no  suggestions  ?  " 

"  Make  'em  if  you  like,  but  I  love  a  man  who  asks  no 
questions, who  does  exactly  what  he  is  ordered  to  do." 

"All  right,  Mr.  Glassthrop." 


"  A  stranger  in  this  city  here  "         195 

Once  more  Glassthrop  reached  up  to  the  leather  loop, 
and  this  time  went  sailing  half  round  the  room,  grasped 
the  rope  near  the  safe,  and  slid  down  with  agile  exactness 
to  the  floor.  The  well-oiled  trolley  ran  without  a  squeak, 
and  the  heavy  body  of  the  man  came  gently  to  the  carpet 
without  a  thud.  To  Jim's  bewildered  imagination  this 
method  of  moving  about  began  to  seem  the  natural  order 
of  things,  for  there  was  not  the  slightest  trace  in  Glass- 
throp's  manner  of  any  knowledge  that  his  action  was  out 
of  the  usual,  and  to  him,  of  course,  it  was  not.  If  any  one 
had  been  so  rude  as  to  call  Glassthrop'3  attention  to  the 
fact  that  he  was  legless  he  would  possibly  have  been  sur- 
prised for  a  moment,  and,  while  admitting  the  truth  of 
the  allegation,  would  perhaps  wonder  why  the  other  had 
noticed  a  deprivation  that  was  never  present  in  his  own 
mind. 

Seated  before  the  safe,  he  whirled  the  polished  knob 
this  way  and  that ;  then,  with  a  strength  that  seemed 
prodigious,  swung  back  the  massive  metal  door.  He  took 
out  a  japanned  iron  box,  closed  and  locked  the  safe, 
climbed  up  the  rope  hand  over  hand  to  the  dangling  loop, 
with  the  metal  box  under  one  arm. 

"  Let  me  assist  you,"  cried  Jim,  springing  to  his  feet 
and  offering  to  take  the  box.  But  as  he  spoke  Glassthrop 
skimmed  with  the  swiftness  of  a  swallow  round  the  eaves 
of  the  room  and  had  settled  on  his  desk  like  a  bird  on  a 
twig. 

"  I  don't  need  any  help,  thank  you,"  he  said,  and  the 
other  sat  down,  convinced  of  the  verity  of  the  remark. 

Glassthrop  took  a  key  from  one  of  the  little  drawers 
before  him,  and,  opening  the  japanned  box,  lifted  from  it 
a  few  bunches  of  paper  currency,  each  held  together  with 
an  elastic  band.  These  he  handed  to  young  Monro. 

"  This  has  already  been  counted,  but  I  always  like  to 
be  doubly  sure.  Just  take  a  seat  at  the  further  desk ;  you 
will  find  paper,  pen  and  ink  there ;  go  over  these  pack- 
ages, note  down  the  denominations  and  the  amount  of 
each  package  and  add  up  the  total." 

Jim  followed  the  directions.  He  was  vaguely  conscious 
that  Glassthrop  had  rung  an  electric  bell,  and  in  answer 


196  The  Victors 

to  his  summons  a  c'erk  came  in  with  a  mass  of  letters, 
opened  and  unopened.  These  were  rapidly  dealt  with, 
replies  were  taken  down  in  shorthand  and  before  Jim 
had  finished  his  own  task  the  clerk  had  disappeared. 

"  Well,  what  do  you  make  of  it?  " 

"  There  are  exactly  ten  thousand  dollars  here." 

"  That's  all  right.  Now  go  into  the  other  room,  brine? 
a  large  stout  envelope  that  will  hold  the  amount,  some 
matches,  sealing  wax  and  a  candle.  Give  me  the  pack- 
ages." 

When  Monro  was  absent,  Glassthrop  deftly  substituted 
the  bunches  he  held  for  a  similar  lot,  which  also  appar- 
ently consisted  of  eood  money  in  various  denominations. 
The  lid  of  the  box  was  closed  down  on  the  aggregation 
that  Monro  had  so  carefully  counted,  and  when  the  young 
man  returned  with  the  envelope  and  the  sealing  wax  he 
found  his  new  master  sitting  just  as  he  had  left  him. 

"  Put  these  bills  carefully  into  that  envelope." 

When  this  was  done  Glassthrop  himself  moistened  the 
flap  and  fastened  it  down ;  then,  with  a  pen,  wrote  the 
name  of  the  firm  rapidly  across  the  back  of  the  envelope, 
the  ink  spreading  when  it  came  to  the  wet  overlay.  Rub- 
bing the  blotting  paper  over  the  signature,  he  handed 
the  envelope  to  the  waiting  Monro. 

"  You'll  find  a  hank  of  red  tape  in  the  other  desk.  Just 
tie  this  up  neatly  and  bring  it  to  me." 

As  the  tying  went  on  Glassthrop  struck  a  match  and  lit 
the  candle.  Then  he  took  the  package,  held  the  blazing 
wax  over  it  at  the  junction  of  the  tapes,  until  a  large 
blob  of  red  wax  covered  the  crossing,  and  finally  pressed 
on  its  semi-fluid  surface  a  seal  which  hung  at  his  watch 
chain.  Treating  the  other  side  of  the  package  in  the 
same  way,  and  examining  the  result  minutely,  finding 
it  secured  to  his  satisfaction,  he  said  to  Monro : 

"  In  the  left-hand  bottom  drawer  of  the  middle  desk 
you  will  find  a  pocketbook  which  will,  I  think,  hold  this 
envelope  and  its  contents.  Just  bring  it  to  me,  will  you  ?  " 

Into  this  pocketbook  he  squeezed  the  packet. 

"  Better  tie  the  whole  thing  with  tape,  then  there  will 
be  no  chance  of  it  dropping  out.  Now,  listen  atten- 


"  A  stranger  in  this  city  here  "         197 

tively  to  me,"  he  said,  when  the  operation  was  fin- 
ished. "  You  will  put  this  packet  into  your  inside 
pocket,  and  you  will  guard  it  faithfully,  until  the  man 
it  is  intended  for  calls  for  it.  You  will  buy  a  ticket 
for  the  night  train  to  Montreal,  and  I  need  not  ad- 
vise you  to  take  no  one  into  your  confidence  with  regard 
to  the  freight  you  carry.  Secure  a  sleeping  berth ;  that 
will,  perhaps,  be  safest,  for  you  might  drop  off  into  a 
dose  in  an  ordinary  car  on  a  long  night's  run,  but  do  not 
undress.  Lie  dowr>~in  your  clothes,  and  I  advise  you  to 
be  certain  that  this  packet  is  underneath  you,  in  which 
case  a  thief  is  not  likely  to  get  it  away  without  waking 
you.  But  the  main  point  is  to  keep  your  mission  secret. 
When  you  arrive  at  Montreal,  go  to  any  hotel  you  like. 
They  will  charge  you  three  dollars  and  a  half  a  day  at 
the  Windsor,  so  perhaps  you  will  choose  a  cheaper  place, 
but  I  shouldn't  advise  you  to  stay  at  too  cheap  a  tavern. 
When  you  are  located,  telegraph  me  your  address.  You 
may  have  to  stay  there  a  day,  or  a  week,  or  a  month ;  I 
can't  tell  at  present  just  how  long,  but  you  will  have  the 
consolation  of  knowing  that  your  pay  is  going  on.  Some 
time  before  the  month  is  out  a  man  will  call  on  you  and 
ask  for  this  packet.  You  will  demand  an  order,  and  he 
will  hand  to  you  one-half  of  this  document." 

Mr.  Glassthrop  held  up  a  letter  written  on  the  office 
paper  of  the  firm,  which  he  tore  carefully  into  two 
pieces,  the  division  zigzagging  across  the  sheet. 

"  If  the  piece  presented  to  you  exactly  matches  the  sec- 
tion in  your  possession,  you  will  give  him  the  packet  and 
take  his  receipt  for  it.  There  your  duty  ends,  and  you 
may  return  at  once  to  New  York.  But  I  expect  that 
you  will  not  allow  yourself  to  be  buncoed  out  of  so 
valuable  a  parcel.  You  have  an  inside  pocket,  I  sup- 
pose? " 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  Then  here  you  are.  Now  button  up  your  coat.  Ah, 
it  makes  rather  a  perceptible  lump  on  the  outside ;  still 
that  can't  be  helped.  Here  is  your  half  of  the  order.  You 
had  better  keep  that  in  the  purse  in  your  trousers 
pocket." 


198  The  Victors 

Monro  followed  directions  without  a  word,  and  stood 
ready  for  further  instructions,  if  there  were  any. 

"  Here  is  a  pay  slip,  which  they  will  cash  for  you  at  the 
outer  office,"  continued  Glassthrop,  after  a  pause.  '  This 
gives  you  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  or  thirty  days' 
pay.  Will  that  be  enough,  do  you  think  ?  " 

"  Ample,  if  I  have  not  to  stay  longer  than  a  month." 

Glassthrop  looked  keenly  at  him.  His  eyes  had  a  keen, 
penetrating  quality,  and  it  occurred  to  Monro  that  this 
would  be  a  very  difficult  man  from  whom  to  conceal  a 
guilty  secret.  Jim  had  entirely  forgotten  that  Glassthrop 
had  no  legs ;  he  found  himself  dominated  by  that  search- 
ing gaze. 

"  Anything  you  don't  understand  about  your  com- 
mission ?  " 

"  No,  sir.  If  I  should  be  in  doubt  after  I  reach  Mon- 
treal, I  shall  telegraph  you  and  await  your  answer  before 
I  act." 

"  Do  so.  You  may  send  in  a  bill  for  your  railway  fare 
and  for  the  sleeping  car.  Good-morning." 

Jim  let  himself  out  of  the  self-locking  door,  a  quick 
gesture  from  Glassthrop  directing  him,  and  left  the  place 
to  the  accompaniment  of  the  peremptory  ringing  of  the 
electric  bell  summoning  a  clerk.  As  he  entered  the  outer 
office  to  cash  his  pay-check  he  noticed  a  long  row  of  men 
sitting  on  a  bench  by  the  wall,  each  evidently  waiting  his 
turn  to  see  Glassthrop,  and  he  smiled  to  think  that  on  his 
second  day  in  New  York  he  had  kept  important  people  in 
the  ante-chamber. 

Once  out  on  the  pavement  he  no  longer  dawdled  as  he 
had  done  before,  but  walked  as  rapidly  and  definitely  as 
any  he  met,  and  no  one  passed  him.  He  remembered  that 
the  railway  ticket  offices  were  further  down  Broadway, 
and  thither  he  set  his  face,  imagining  he  had  ten  thou- 
sand dollars  in  his  inner  pocket. 


CHAPTER  III 

"  MARK   HIS  FIRST  APPROACH   BEFORE   MY   LADY  " 

MONRO  experienced  no  difficulty  in  purchasing  a  rail- 
way ticket  to  Montreal,  but  he  found  that  ileeping  berths 
were  rather  at  a  premium.  The  hot  weather  was  driving 
people  north,  the  agent  said,  and  they  were  sending 
heavy  trains  every  night  through  the  Adirondacks  and  be- 
yond to  the  land  of  coolness.  Mountain,  lake  and  forest 
were  beckoning  to  the  parched  dweller  in  New  York, 
and  the  call  was  being  answered  so  universally  that  Jim 
had  to  content  himself  with  an  upper  berth,  which  is  to 
most  people  an  unattractive  resting  place  for  a  stuffy 
night,  but  to  the  young  man  it  promised  to  be  a  haven  of 
rest,  for  he  had  not  slept  in  the  ordinary  car  coming  from 
Chicago,  and  his  first  night  in  New  York,  what  with  the 
excitement  of  the  day  and  the  unusual  warmth  of  the 
night,  had  been  little  better,  so  far  as  slumber  was  con- 
cerned, than  the  dreary  hours  spent  on  the  train. 

Yet,  tired  and  sleepy  as  he  was,  Monro  determined,  for 
the  safety  of  his  treasure,  to  add  one  more  wide-awake 
night  to  those  which  had  gone  before.  He  knew  there 
was  little  chance  that  any  one  could  surmise  he  carried 
such  a  sum  of  money,  but  he  was  resolved  to  incur 
no  risks.  He  imagined  that  Glassthrop  had  chosen  him 
for  the  task  largely  because  no  one  would  suspect  him 
of  concealing  wealth  in  a  coat  which  was  none  too  new  or 
fashionable.  Once  aboard  the  train  and  sure  of  his  car, 
he  went  into  the  smoking-room,  seating  himself  in  a 
luxurious  armchair  by  the  open  window.  He  was  early, 
and  consequently  had  a  choice  of  places.  Soon  the  room 
filled,  and,  when  the  train  started,  several  were  standing 
leaning  against  the  walls  of  panelled  mahogany.  A 
smoking-room  on  a  sleeping  car  is  an  interesting  spot. 

199 


2oo  The  Victors 

There  is  little  stiffness  in  its  social  atmosphere,  however 
thick  the  air  may  be  with  the  fumes  of  tobacco.  Habitues 
of  the  smoking  compartment  are  usually  men  who  have 
travelled  much  and  made  the  most  of  life  as  they  found 
it.  Acquaintances  are  as  speedily  formed  as  they  are 
afterward  abruptly  terminated  without  a  thought,  and 
striking  experiences  are  related,  one  story  calling  forth 
another.  Jim  was  a  good  listener,  even  if  little  in  evi- 
dence when  the  talk  was  most  prolific,  and  what  he  heard 
interested  him.  Now  and  then  the  negro  porter  came  in 
and  announced  to  some  man  that  his  berth  was  made  up, 
and  the  individual  selected  rose,  yawned,  bade  the  com- 
pany good-night  und  disappeared.  At  last  Monro  found 
himself  alone,  as  he  had  been  at  the  beginning.  The  por- 
ter now  put  in  a  final  appearance  and  made  some  bustle 
about  cleaning  up  the  room.  This  was  the  negro's  sleep- 
ing place,  althougn  Monro  did  not  know  that,  and  the 
coloured  perron  evidently  thought  it  was  extravagance  for 
a  man  to  pay  for  a  berth  and  not  occupy  it. 

"  Yours  is  upper  five,  I  think,  sah,"  ventured  the  por- 
ter at  last. 

"  Yes." 

"  It's  all  ready,  sah.  I'll  call  you  in  the  morning  m 
plenty  of  time,  sah." 

"  Thanks."  So,  accepting  this  broad  hint,  Monro  took 
off  his  shoes,  climbed  the  step-ladder  the  porter  held  in 
place  for  him,  and  crawled,  dressed  as  he  was,  into  his 
restricted  quarters. 

Such  is  the  perversity  of  all  things  pertaining  to  hu- 
manity that  on  the  nights  when  he  had  resolved  to  sleep 
at  all  costs  he  couldn't,  and  now,  when  he  wished  to  keep 
awake,  drowsiness  persisted  in  overcoming  him.  The 
rumble  of  the  train  was  most  somnolent.  He  lay  face 
downward,  the  better  to  protect  his  charge,  and  he  heard 
the  wheels  rhyming  the  refrain  which  was  such  a 
favourite  with  Maguire: 

I  have  fifteen  dollars  in  my  inside  pocket, 
Do  ye  moind. 

He  smiled  at  this,  but  because  of  it,  and  in  spite  of  the 


"  Mark  his  first  approach  before  my  lady  "   201 

sweltering1  night,  he  found  himself  dropping-  off  in  slum- 
ber, the  refrain  taking  all  sorts  of  fantastic  versions  that 
by  and  by  seemed  to  be  most  rational  variations.  Albany 
disturbed  him ;  it  was  unnecessarily  noisy  and  excited  for 
that  time  of  night.  The  train  would  never  get  to  Mont- 
real if  it  stopped  so  long  at  Albany,  he  thought.  He 
heard  the  rushing  of  trucks  along  the  platforms,  the 
heavy  thud  of  trunks,  the  agitated  inquiries  of  anxious 
people.  Why  weren't  they  in  bed  ?  What  was  the  sense 
in  racing  up  and  down  like  this?  Somebody  wanted  a 
berth,  and  the  porter  said  there  wasn't  a  vacant  upper  or 
lower  berth  on  the  train ;  then  the  somebody  cursed  the 
inertia  of  the  railway  company  in  not  adding  another  car, 
and  an  authoritative  voice  proclaimed  that  the  locomotive 
had  more  than  it  ought  to  pull  already.  He  did  not  re- 
member quitting  Albany,  for  the  next  thing  he  knew  was 
that  the  wheels  were  at  their  old  chorus ;  then  it  ap- 
peared that  after  getting  a  thousand  miles  or  more  north 
of  Albany  the  conductor  remembered  he  had  forgotten 
something,  and  so  the  train  was  taken  all  the  way  back  to 
find  it.  Monro,  on  the  whole,  was  favourable  to  the  rail- 
way company,  but  this  really  seemed  too  much.  It  wasn't 
the  proper  way  to  conduct  a  great  trunk  line.  They  were 
stopping  at  Albany  again,  but  everybody  had  gone  to  bed, 
probably  not  expecting  the  train  to  return,  and  the  place 
was  very  quiet.  He  expostulated  with  the  porter,  who 
said  the  conductor  couldn't  find  what  he  wanted  on  ac- 
count of  everybody  being  asleep.  Then  the  porter  pro- 
posed that  he  should  change  his  berth,  but  Monro  in- 
sisted that  he  had  paid  for  upper  five,  and  upper  five  he 
was  going  to  have.  The  -porter  insulted  him  by  asking 
him  if  he  were  awake ;  whereas  he  had  never  been  to 
sleep,  as  he  informed  the  foolish  negro,  who  could  not  be 
expected  to  know  any  better  because  of  his  colour.  But 
the  porter  was  so  persistent  in  saying  that  his  berth  was 
upper  seven  instead  of  upper  five,  that  to  get  rid  of  him 
he  said,  "  All  right,  all  right.  Yes,  I'm  much  wider 
awake  than  you  are.  and  I  am  already  dressed."  That 
seemed  to  satisfy  the  porter,  who  forthwith  ceased  to 
trouble,  and  oblivion  followed. 


202  The  Victors 

When  he  actually  awoke,  his  first  motion  was  a  pat  of 
the  hand  against  his  coat.  Yes,  the  packet  was  in  its 
place,  secure  enough.  He  realised  now  that  he  had  slept 
soundly  all  night,  and  he  already  appreciated  the  refresh- 
ing, exhilarating  effects  of  his  repose.  The  train  was 
standing  still  and  the  silence  struck  him  as  unusual. 
Could  it  be  really  morning?  he  asked  himself.  He  parted 
the  curtains  and  looked  down  the  long,  gloomy  alley, 
walled  on  each  side  by  sombre  drapery.  The  lamps  at  the 
roof  were  unlit,  and  grey  daylight  filtered  in  at  the  end 
windows.  He  slipped  down  from  his  upper  berth,  feeling 
with  his  stockinged  toes  for  the  edge  of  the  lower, 
anxious  not  to  disturb  the  sleeper  beneath  him.  He  found 
his  shoes  under  the  lower  bunk  and  put  them  on. 
Walking  down  the  narrow  curtained  canyon,  he  was 
amazed  when  he  looked  out  the  forward  window  to  see 
that  his  sleeping-coach  stood  alone  on  a  side-track  that 
joined  the  main  line  a  little  further  to  the  north.  He 
walked  quickly  to  the  rear  of  the  car,  and  there  the  ser- 
rated cliff  of  a  gravel-pit  presented  itself.  Trying  the 
door  he  found  it  locked,  and  further  investigation  con- 
vinced him  that  he  was  alone  in  the  sleeper;  every  berth, 
upper  and  lower,  was  tenantless.  The  other  door  also 
was  locked.  Still  it  would  be  no  great  matter  to  raise  one 
of  the  double  windows  and  drop  to  the  ground.  But 
what  then?  The  verbal  contest  with  the  porter  had  not 
been  a  dream  after  all;  at  least  part  of  it  was  true,  and 
the  porter  had  left  him  in  the  belief  that  he  was  already 
dressed  and  wide  awake.  There  had  been  some  crisis 
that  entailed  a  change  of  cars,  as  unexpected  as  it  was 
unprepared  for. 

The  disabled  sleeper  had  evidently  been  run  along  a 
siding  that  led  into  a  gravel-pit.  He  saw  the  main  line, 
and  beyond  that  there  seemed  to  be  a  lake,  but  over  it 
floated  a  filmy  gauze  of  morning  mist.  From  what  he 
could  see,  the  car  had  been  abandoned  in  a  mountainous, 
or  at  least  a  hilly  region.  The  solemnity  and  completeness 
of  the  silence  impressed  him,  and  when  he  had,  with 
some  difficulty,  raised  a  window,  the  air  struck  in  cool 
and  delicious.  After  all,  if  there  were  anything  to  eat  in, 


"Mark  his  first  approach  before  my  lady"  203 

the  neighbourhood,  this  was  not  a  bad  exchange  for  that 
gigantic  oven,  New  York.  The  slight  refreshing  breeze 
brought  into  sharp  contrast  the  stuffiness  of  the  car,  and 
he  breathed  the  incoming  current  with  delight. 

Suddenly  the  stillness  was  broken  by  the  incisive, 
continued  ring  of  an  electric  bell  just  above  his  head. 
He  jumped  as  if  some  one  had  fired  a  shotgun  at  his 
ear.  Swinging  round,  amazed  and  startled,  he  gazed 
for  a  moment  stupefied  at  the  electrical  indicator  which 
was  fastened  to  the  wall  of  the  car,  near  the  ceiling,  with 
the  still  quivering  clapper  of  the  bell  above  it.  The  in- 
dicator was  numbered  according  to  the  total  of  upper  and 
lower  berths  in  the  car,  and  there  were  also  a  few  special 
disks:  "  Smoking-Room,"  "Drawing-Room,"  and  so 
forth.  Monro  had  looked  into  every  berth  as  well  as 
into  the  smoking-room,  and  had  satisfied  himself  that 
he  was  entirely  alone  in  a  locked  car.  Now  he  knew  there 
must  be  another  forlorn  passenger  besides  himself.  The 
disk  had  dropped  under  the  words  "  Drawing- Room,"  so 
recovering  his  composure,  he  walked  to  the  other  end  of 
the  car  and  pushed  the  drawing-room  door  partly  open. 
The  vision  which  met  his  eyes  disturbed  him  even  more 
than  the  sudden  ringing  of  the  electric  bell  had  done,  and 
he  closed  the  drawing-room  door  quickly  and  noiselessly, 
He  had  a  brief  glimpse  of  a  young  girl  sitting  up  in  the 
one  berth  that  occupied  a  side  of  the  small  compartment. 
She  was  gazing  dreamily,  still  half  asleep,  out  of  the  win- 
dow at  the  mist-covered  lake,  one  small  hand  holding 
back  the  brown  window  curtain.  There  was  a  general 
effect  of  fleecy  whiteness  about  the  sitting  figure,  a  cloud 
of  lace  at  the  neck  and  wrists,  a  prolusion  of  reddish 
curls  about  the  shoulders,  a  confused  impressionist  sketch 
rather  than  a  completed  picture  in  Jim's  mind,  for  he 
closed  the  door  softly  and  speedily,  standing  outside, 
hoping  she  had  not  seen  him,  a  fervent  wish  that  was 
realised,  for  the  girl  was  looking  toward  the  lake.  A 
voice  came  to  him,  clear  and  musical  as  a  silver  bell. 

"  O  porter,  would  you  kindly  go  to  the  next  car  for- 
ward and  tell  my  maid,  who  is  in  lower  twelve,  that  I 
would  like  her  to  come  to  me  as  soon  as  she  can  ?  " 


2O4  The  Victors 

Jim  cleared  his  throat  once  or  twice. 

"  Madam,  I  am  sorry  to  say  there  is  no  porter  and  no 
forward  car.  There  seems  to  have  been  an  accident  of 
some  sort,  and  this  sleeper  has  been  side-tracked  and 
abandoned  by  the  rest  of  the  train  in  a  gravel-pit." 

"  O  dear!  "  The  voice  had  now  become  one  of  alarm. 
"  And  who — and  who — " 

"  Who  am  I  ?  I  am  the  other  passenger  who  is  left 
behind."  , 

There  was  a  pause,  during  which  the  occupant  of  the 
drawing-room  evidently  arose  from  her  berth,  for  Jim 
heard  the  bolt  of  the  door  thrust  to  with  a  certain  stealth, 
but  the  silence  of  the  car  made  the  action  audible,  and 
Jim  smiled  at  the  precaution.  After  an  interval  of 
silence  he  cleared  the  huskiness  from  his  throat  once 
more,  and  said :  "  I  propose  to  get  out  of  the  window 
and  discover,  if  I  can,  where  we  are.  I  will  come  back 
in  a  short  time  and  report  progress  to  you,  if  I  may." 

"  Thank  you,"  the  pleasant  voice  from  the  inner  room 
replied.  "  But  why  do  you  go  by  way  of  the  window  ?  " 

"  The  outer  doors  are  locked." 

"  Isn't  there  an  axe  fastened  to  the  wall  near  the 
door?" 

"An  axe?"  he  answered  in  amazement.  "I  don't 
know.  Oh,  yes,  I  see  one  in  the  passage." 

"  Very  well,  then,  break  the  lock  off  the  door.  I'm 
certainly  not  going  to  climb  out  of  the  window ;  and  if 
you  will  kindly  knock  off  the  lock  it  will  save  me  the 
trouble  of  doing  so." 

Monro  laughed  outright,  and  he  thought  he  heard  a 
silvery  echo  of  his  mirth  from  within  the  state-room. 

"  Aren't  you  afraid  of  a  suit  for  damages  ?  This  is  an 
expensive  car." 

"  The  suit  should  go  the  other  way.  The  company  gets 
off  very  easily  if  a  broken  lock  is  all  it  costs  them  for 
abandoning  two  passengers  in  the  way  they  seem  to  have 
done.  I  •never  heard  of  such  a  thing."  The  voice  was  now 
rising  in  indignation.  "  It  is  simply  gross  carelessness. 
I  had  no  warning.  Had  you?  " 

"  I'm  afraid  I  had,  and  was  too  sleepy  to  attend  to  it. 


"  Mark  his  first  approach  before  my  lady  "  205 

I  remember  a  verbal  tussle  with  the  porter,  but  thought 
at  the  time,  and  even  since,  that  it  was  a  dream." 

"  Well,  he  didn't  warn  me.  Are  you  going  to  break 
that  lock?" 

"  Of  course.  I  am  at  this  moment  getting  the  hang  of 
the  axe." 

The  removing  of  the  silver-plated  lock  was  not  so  easy 
as  it  seemed,  for  sleeping-cars  are  solidly  constructed,  but 
the  edge  of  the  axe  was  at  length  forced  in  between  metal 
and  timber,  and,  with  a  rending,  the  trick  was  done. 
Monro  opened  the  door  and  stood  for  a  few  moments  on 
the  platform,  wondering  whether  he  should  speak  to  the 
lady  or  make  a  reconnoissance  of  the  neighbourhood  with- 
out further  parley.  He  hought  he  should  speak,  but  was 
at  a  loss  to  know  exactly  how  he  ought  to  address  her. 
At  last  he  went  to  the  door  of  the  drawing-room  and  said : 

"  I  propose  to  make  an  examination  of  the  locality,  and 
find  out  if  I  can  where  we  are.  I  will  be  back  in  a  short 
time." 

He  fancied  he  heard  the  sound  of  suppressed  laughter. 
and  he  smiled  in  sympathy  with  her  evident  appreciation 
of  the  humour  of  the  situation.  Such  an  outlook  rendered 
the  crisis  less  embarrassing.  Then  he  remembered  chat 
he  had  made  almost  exactly  the  same  statement  of  inten- 
tion a  few  moments  before,  and  began  to  fear  the  laugh- 
ter was  at  him  rather  than  with  him. 

"  I  thought  you  knew  where  we  were  already,"  carne 
the  voice  at  last.  "  You  said  we  were  in  a  gravel-pit." 

"  Oh,  I  know  that  much,  but  the  knowledge  struck  me 
as  limited,  and  i  propose  to  extend  it." 

"  A  very  happy  idea.     Isn't  there  any  depot  here?  " 

"  There  doesn't  seem  to  be." 

"  Well,  I  suppose  the  first  thing  to  do  is  to  find  out 
where  the  nearest  telegraph  office  is." 

"  Yes,  I  think  so." 

"  I  suppose  this  car  is  disabled — a  broken  wheel,  per- 
haps. Don't  you  imagine  they  will  send  back  a  locomo- 
tive for  it  from  the  first  place  the  express  stops  at,  if 
there  is  an  extra  engine  there.  Or  perhaps  they  will  tele- 
graph for  one.  They  can't  leave  a  car  like  this  for  long, 
but  must  take  it  to  the  nearest  repair  shop." 


206  The  Victors 

"  I  should  say  they  will  do  exactly  as  you  suggest," 
replied  Jim,  astonished  that  a  young  woman  should  show 
such  knowledge  of  the  working  of  a  railway  line  and 
such  practical  application  of  her  information.  Somehow 
the  mending  of  a  sleeping  car  seemed  rather  out  of 
the  usual  sphere  of  feminine  occupation. 

"  Very  well,  then,  you  go,  and  if  the  engine  comes  I 
shall  ask  the  driver  to  whistle,  so  that  you  will  know  help 
is  here.  I  shall  also  make  them  wait  until  you  return." 

"  Thank  you  very  much." 

Monro  stepped  down  from  the  car  and  walked  over  to 
the  main  track.  "  A  confident  young  woman,"  he  said 
to  himself.  She  evidently  has  not  the  least  doubt  that 
she  can  boss  the  wrecking  gang  when  it  arrives." 

There  was  little  to  be  learned  from  looking  up  and 
down  the  vacant  line,  for  vision  in  either  direction  was 
limited.  The  track  followed  the  curving  shores  of  the 
lake,  and  swung  out  of  sight  a  short  distance  north  and 
south.  He  was  in  doubt  which  way  to  travel,  but  finally 
kept  the  direction  to  which  he  had  set  his  face  when  he 
left  New  York  the  night  before.  He  soon  espied  a  farm- 
house on  the  side  of  the  hill  overlooking  the  railway,  and 
thither  he  bent  his  steps.  There  was  no  man  about  the 
place,  but  an  exceedingly  inquisitive  woman  standing  at 
the  door  shot  out  questions  enough  for  a  dozen.  She 
was  much  interested  in  the  fact  that  a  sleeping-car  had 
been  dropped  off  the  night  express,  and  wanted  to  know 
all  about  it.  Monro  told  her  as  much  as  he  thought  was 
necessary,  then  made  some  inquiries  on  his  own  account. 
How  far  away  was  the  nearest  telegraph  office,  and  in  what 
direction?  Five  miles  to  the  north,  along  the  line,  and 
seven  miles  by  the  road,  but  it  was  not  much  of  a  depot — 
a  freight  shed,  rather — and  very  few  trains  stopped  there. 
Yes,  there  was  a  telegraph  office,  she  thought,  but  she 
wasn't  sure.  Bound  to  be  a  telegraph  office  of  some 
kind  for  the  running  of  the  trains.  She  wondered  why 
they  didn't  take  the  car  to  the  Junction.  There  were  long 
switches  at  that  point,  where  freight  trains  waited  to  let 
expresses  go  by.  No,  she  didn't  think  he  could  get  a  horse 
and  buggy  in  the  neighbourhood,  least  not  nearer  than 


"  Mark  his  first  approach  before  my  lady  "  207 

the  village,  and  that  was  further  on  than  the  Junction,  so 
there  wouldn't  be  much  use  in  going  there  for  one,  would 
there?  Well,  they  called  it  the  Junction,  anyhow,  but  she 
wasn't  sure  that  any  line  branched  off;  rather  thought 
one  did,  though.  She  had  been  very  seldom  at  the  Junc- 
tion. It  wasn't  much  of  a  place,  even  the  village.  He 
might  get  a  team  and  a  waggon  if  he  waited  till  the  men 
came  home  at  noon,  but  they  were  pretty  busy  just  now, 
and  she  didn't  know  that  any  of  them  would  care  to  go 
unless  something  had  broken  in  the  fields,  when  they 
would  have  to  make  a  journey  anyhow  to  the  blacksmith 
siiop,  and  then  as  like  as  not  one  of  the  boys  would  go 
on  horseback.  For  her  part,  she  would  rather  walk  the 
track.  It  was  no  distance  for  a  stalwart  young  man  on  a 
lovely  summer  morning,  and  besides  it  was  a  beautiful 
stroll,  along  the  lake  all  the  way.  She  didn't  know  as  she 
had  anything  to  eat — much ;  but  if  he  wasn't  particular 
there  was  home-made  bread  and  good  fresh  butter.  She 
could  fry  some  eggs,  or  would  he  have  them  boiled? 
Then  there  was  coffee,  such  as  it  was.  Oh,  yes  ;•  there  was 
plenty  of  milk,  of  course.  Would  he  come  in  ?  It  would 
be  ready  in  a  jiffy.  Wanted  to  take  it  to  the  car?  Oh, 
then  there  was  someDne  else  there  that  had  been  left  as 
well  as  he.  Do  tell !  Why  didn't  he  come  too  ?  Oh,  an 
invalid.  That  was  too  bad.  Hope  it  isn't  anything 
catching. 

Monro  was  nearly  in  despair  at  the  questioning 
woman's  reluctance  to  cease  her  inquiries  and  get  the 
repast  he  had  ordered ;  but  at  last  it  was  all  ready  for 
him,  and  still  hearing  no  sound  of  the  approach  of  a 
wrecking  train,  he  left  the  farmhouse  with  a  miscella- 
neous burden  that  presented  some  difficulties  in  the  carry- 
ing. 

The  palatial  car  stood  in  the  gravel-pit,  looking  most 
incongruous  in  its  rough  surroundings.  As  he  came 
nearer  he  saw  the  figure  of  the  girl  outlined  against  the 
glancing  water,  walking  slowly  on  the  firm  sandy  beach. 
Even  a  man  could  not  help  noticing  how  neatly  her  well 
made  travelling  dress  fitted  her,  and  to  Monro  it  seemed 
the  height  of  fashion,  which  doubtless  it  was.  With  a 


208  The  Victors 

coquetry  which,  however,  was  lost  on  him,  she  had  not 
put  over  it  the  grey  gossamer  duster,  which  hung  in  folds 
of  film  across  her  arm.  Hearing  him  approach,  she  turned 
toward  him  a  face  which  was  not  only  lovely  but 
radiated  great  good  nature  as  well.  She  had  some  diffi- 
culty in  suppressing  the  tendency  of  her  pretty  lips  to 
smile,  but  the  dancing  light  in  her  eyes  could  not  be 
quenched,  and  he  likened  it  to  the  sparkle  of  the  newly 
risen  sun  on  the  blue  water  of  the  lake,  from  which  the 
mist  had  now  entirely  disappeared. 

"  Well?  "  she  said.     "  And  what  State  are  we  in  ?  " 

"  A  state  of  uncertainty  still,"  replied  Jim,  with  a 
smile.  "  I  really  forgot  to  ask.  I  suspect  Vermont,  but 
I'm  not  sure.  Perhaps  we're  in  Canada." 

"  It's  more  than  likely.  They  would  never  dare  play 
such  a  trick  as  this  on  us  in  our  own  country — God's 
country,  as  my  father  calls  it." 

"  The  nearest  depot  is  five  miles  away,  to  the  north. 
The  woman  up  at  the  farmhouse  says  she  thinks  a  buggy 
can  be  got  at  the  village ;  so  if  you  will  wait  here  I  will  go 
to  the  Junction,  and  come  back  with  whatever  vehicle  I 
can  find." 

"  Nonsense.  What's  five  miles  ?  I  don't  mind  walking 
in  the  least.  That's  what  I'm  going  to  Canada  for.  Be- 
sides, even  if  there  were  a  buggy  here  I  would  not  go  by 
road,  for  the  locomotive  will  very  likely  come  while  we 
are  on  the  way ;  then,  when  we  reached  the  Junction,  we 
should  be  no  better  off." 

"  The  locomotive  may  come  from  the  south,  you 
know." 

"  That's  true.  I  hadn't  thought  of  that.  What  have 
you  there  ?  " 

"  An  attempt  at  breakfast.  Some  bread  and  butter, 
coffee,  milk,  hard-boiled  eggs  and  a  whole  apple-pie. 
It's  the  best  I  could  do." 

"  How  delightful !  I  never  expected  this.  To  tell  the 
truth,  instead  of  admiring  the  beautiful  scenery,  I  was  just 
regretting  that  they  had  not  abandoned  a  dining-car  as 
well.  I  think  this  sweet,  cool  air  must  be  the  cause  of 
such  a  departure  from  all  that  should  be  expected  of  a 


"  Mark  his  first  approach  before  my  lady  "  209 

person  at  the  foot  of  the  hills  by  the  margin  of  an 
enchanting  lake." 

"  Do  you  prefer  to  breakfast  in  the  car?  " 

"  Oh,  no,  no.  That  would  be  misusing  our  privileges. 
The  air  of  New  York  seems  still  in  that  car,  and  how 
frightfully  hot  it  was  in  the  city  yesterday!  There  is  a 
smooth  dry  rock  a  little  further  down  on  the  beach  that 
will  do  as  table  and  chairs  both.  Can  I  help  you  with 
anything?  Let  me  carry  the  pitcher,  at  least." 

"  This  is  all  right,  thank  you.  I  believe  I  am  already 
qualified  as  an  expert  waiter,  although  I  won't  do  any 
boasting  until  I  get  everything  safely  to  the  table  rock." 

"  My  name  is  Miss  Van  Ness,"  she  said,  suddenly,  as 
they  walked  along  the  firm  sand  together.  "  I  live  in 
New  York  and  am  on  a  pleasure  trip  to  Canada.  Just  as 
we  have  to  be  our  own  waiters  this  morning,  I  suppose  we 
may  as  well  be  our  own  introducers." 

"  My  name  is  Monro,  also  of  New  York,  but  a  two- 
days'  resident  only  in  that  city.  I  am  on  a  business  trip 
to  Montreal,  representing  for  the  time  being  the  firm  of 
Glassthrop  &  Co.,  Broadway — patent  agents,  company 
promoters  and  people  of  that  sort." 

This  explanation  brought  them  to  the  place  for  which 
they  were  searching,  and  the  girl  threw  her  folded  duster 
on  the  edge  of  the  rock  and  seated  herself  there.  The 
gentle  waves  lapped  the  firm  fine  sand  almost  at  her  feet. 
Monro  had  carried  the  big  hot  tin  coffee-pot  in  one  hand. 
while  the  other  supported  a  wooden  pail  which  held 
everything  else,  and  which  had  to  be  balanced  gingerly 
so  that  the  pitcher  containing  the  milk  would  not  topple 
over. 

"  Let  me  pour  out  the  coffee,"  said  Miss  Van  Xess : 
and  this  she  did,  when  he  had  arranged  the  two  cups.  All 
in  all  it  was  a  very  jolly  breakfast,  the  inspiring  air  giving 
a  zest  to  it  which  might  have  been  absent  in  New  York. 
Having  put  coffee-pot,  pitcher,  cups  and  plates  all  in  the 
wooden  pail  again,  the  two  started  on  their  journey  up 
the  line,  Monro  deflecting  from  the  road  when  opposite 
the  farmhouse,  so  that  he  might  deliver  to  its  owner  her 
belongings.  The  woman  was  at  the  door  again.  Monro 
14 


The  Victors 

had  paid  her  well  before  he  took  away  the  provender, 
but  now  he  thanked  her  effusively.  He  was  aware  that 
the  woman's  eyes  were  upon  the  trim  figure  walking 
slowly  along  the  ties  far  below. 

"Oh,  that's  the  invalid,  is  it?"  she  remarked,  with 
some  asperity. 

"That's  the  invalid,  madam,"  said  Monro,  with  a  guilty 
laugh. 

"  She's  got  better  pretty  quick." 

"  Who  wouldn't,  madam,  after  such  excellent  cooking? 
I  assure  you  we  don't  get  bread  so  good  or  butter  so 
sweet  as  that  in  the  city." 

The  woman's  grimness  relaxed,  and  the  trace  of  a 
smile  came  to  her  thin  lips.  She  sighed. 

"  Ah,  well,  good  luck  to  you  both.  It  is  nice  to  be 
young." 

"  Thank  you,  madam,"  and  Jim  took  off  his  hat  with 
the  sweep  of  a  courtier.  The  next  instant  he  was  bound- 
ing down  the  hill,  and  leaped  the  stone  wall  at  the  foot 
without  putting  a  hand  on  it. 

"  I  have  thought  it  all  out,  and  I  understand  it  now," 
cried  Miss  Van  Ness,  with  all  the  bright  eagerness  of  a 
little  girl  who  has  made  a  wonderful  discovery.  Jim 
moderated  his  pace  as  he  came  up  with  her. 

"  Yes  ?  And  what  are  your  conclusions  ?  "  he  asked, 
just  as  if  he  understood  the  subject  of  her  meditations. 

"  Well,  you  see,  there  was  probably  another  train 
following  the  express.  Perhaps  they  knew  that  it  had  al- 
ready left  the  siding  on  which  it  stood  when  the  express 
passed  north,  and  of  course  they  could  not  telegraph  and 
stop  it.  I  examined  the  sleeping-car  while  you  were  up  at 
the  farm,  and  one  of  its  wheels  is  broken,  almost  split  in 
two.  It's  a  wonder  there  was  not  a  smash-up  as  it  was. 
There  would  have  been  before  it  had  run  another  mile. 
Of  course  they  would  send  a  man  back  to  flag  the  oncom- 
ing train,  but  this  morning  it  was  misty  on  the  lake,  and 
perhaps  during  the  night  we  were  running  through  a 
thick  fog.  If  that  were  the  case  there  was  every  chance 
of  the  following  train  running  past  the  flag-man.  The 
crew  must  have  been  in  a  panic,  with  half  the  express  on 


"  Mark  his  first  approach  before  my  lady  "   211 

the  main  line  and  half  up  that  gravel-pit  siding;  just  the 
proper  conditions  for  a  frightful  wreck ;  so  there  would 
be  scant  time  to  rouse  the  occupants  of  our  car,  and  get 
them  moved  on  to  the  train  in  front.  Porters  always  lose 
their  heads  in  a  case  of  that  kind,  and  I  have  no  doubt 
our  own  porter,  with  chattering  teeth,  told  the  conductor 
that  everybody  was  out.  Still  the  conductor  ought  to  have 
seen  for  himself,  though  I  can  imagine  how  anxious  he 
was  to  pull  out  and  whistle  back  the  flag-man.  That's 
how  it  happened,  I'm  sure." 

"  Then  you  don't  intend  to  sue  the  company,  Miss  Van 
Ness?  You  are  pleading  extenuating  circumstances  for 
it." 

"  Sue  the  company?    I  don't  understand  you." 

"  Why,  you  know,  you  said  when  I  hesitated  to  chop 
off  the  lock  that  I  had  ground  for  suing  the  company, 
whereas  I  feared  they  would  imprison  me  for  house- 
breaking  or  train-wrecking." 

"  Oh,  yes.  You  might  bring  an  action  against  the  com- 
pany, but  I'm  barred.  You  see,  I  travel  on  a  pass,  and  I 
believe  the  conditions  are  I  have  no  remedy  in  a  matter 
of  this  kind.  And  then,  again,  filial  duty  would  keep 
me  from  saying  a  word  about  this.  I  strongly  suspect 
my  father  is  part  owner  of  this  line.  If  I  knew  just  where 
we  were  I  should  be  able  to  tell  you  for  certain.  He  is  a 
railroad  man,  and  so  high  up  in  the  service  that  his  only 
daughter  can  travel  all  over  the  country  without  paying 
fare.  Isn't  that  delightful  ?  Do  you  pay  your  fare  ?  " 

"  Alas,  yes." 

"  So  many  people  do !  It  always  seems  a  waste  of 
money  to  me,  but  then  I  suppose  somebody  must  pay  or 
we  couldn't  keep  the  trains  running." 

The  young  man  laughed,  and  she  looked  brightly  at 
him,  a  smile  on  her  own  fair  face,  the  colour  in  her  cheeks 
the  more  vivid  from  the  exercise  of  walking  in  that  brisk 
air. 

"  What  are  you  laughing  at  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  You  said  '  we,'  as  if  you  were  running  the  trains  in 
conjunction  with  your  father." 

"  Well,  I  am,  in  a  measure.     He  always  calls  me  his 


212  The  Victors 

assistant  manager.  Perhaps  you  won't  believe  I  have 
ridden  on  an  engine." 

"  I  can  hardly  imagine  you  doing  that ;  it  is  all  so 
greasy  and  smoky  and  cindery,  and  you  look — "  He 
paused,  abruptly. 

"Yes,  and  I  look — ?  Go  on.  Please  don't  stop  when 
you  come  to  the  most  interesting  part." 

"  Well,  you  look  more  like  a  nymph  of  this  lovely  lake 
than — than  anything  else."  He  ended  lamely  and  in  some 
confusion,  flushing  awkwardly,  for  he  was  unused  to 
paying  compliments  to  fair  ladies.  His  toe  stubbed 
against  one  of  the  ties,  and  he  stumbled,  recovering  just 
in  time  to  save  himself  from  a  fall.  Ties  form  an  incon- 
venient pavement,  although  the  girl  trod  lightly  on  them, 
as  if  she  had  been  accustomed  to  walking  the  track  all 
her  life.  Jim  blushed  more  deeply  than  ever  as  he  re- 
gained his  equilibrium.  The  merry  laughter  of  Miss  Van 
Ness  echoed  from*  the  rocks. 

"  Am  I  so  countrified  as  all  that  ? "  she  said.  "  I 
looked  up  at  you  a  while  ago  when  you  were  bowing  so 
grandly  with  a  flourish  of  the  hat  to  the  lady  of  the 
lake  who  stood  at  the  farmhouse  door.  Were  you  telling 
her  she  was  a  nymph  ?  " 

"  I  was  telling  her  something  much  more  practical, 
which  I  think  pleased  her  well.  I  praised  her  baking  of 
bread  and  making  of  butter." 

"  Oh,  I  see.  Then  you  have  a  stock  of  compliments  to 
suit  all  tastes  and  all  ranks  of  life." 

"  I  can't  allow  that,  Miss  Van  Ness.  There  are  no 
ranks  of  life  in  this  country." 

"  Ah,  yes,  you  told  me  you  had  been  but  one  day  in  New 
York.  You'll  know  ever  so  much  better  than  that  before 
you  are  there  a  year." 

"  All  men  are  born  free  and  equal,"  quoted  Jim,  in  self- 
defence. 

"  Perhaps,  but  all  women  are  not,  thank  goodness. 
However  this  may  be  a  mere  ruse  on  your  part  to  lead 
me  into  a  political  or  social  discussion,  where  I  refuse  to 
follow  you,  and  thus  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  you  tacitly 
admit  you  have  a  stock  of  compliments.  Please  let  me 


"Mark  his  first  approach  before  my  lady"  213 

hear  them,  one  after  another,  from  the  eulogy  of  the  bread 
to  the  flattery  suitable  for  the  wife  of  a  president  of  the 
United  States." 

"  You  wrong  me,  Miss  Van  Ness.  I  don't  think  I  ever 
flattered  anyone  in  my  life;  rather  too  much  the  other 
way,  I  fancy.  I  had  a  genuine  admiration  for  that 
woman's  bread  and  butter,  just  as  I  had  a  genuine  ad- 
miration for — for — " 

"  For  the  nymph  of  the  lake?  " 

"  Exactly,  and  thank  you,  Miss  Van  Ness." 

"  You  are  quite  welcome,  Mr.  Monro ;  and  I  am  glad 
you  are  grateful,  for  I  helped  you  over  a  very  difficult 
place,  didn't  I  ?  " 

"  Yes,  you  did." 

They  both  laughed  in  sheer  enjoyment  of  the  morning, 
and  their  walk  and  their  youth,  as  the  farmer's  wife  had 
said.  The  laugh  came  back  to  them  from  the  cliff,  and 
seemed  to  dissipate  itself  in  silvery  undertones  over  the 
placid  waters  of  the  lake. 

"  What  a  wonderful  echo !  "  she  cried,  and,  facing  the 
rocks,  ran  up  and  down  an  octave  with  a  musical  voice 
that  had  evidently  been  well  trained.  "  Are  you  a  college 
man  ?  "  she  asked,  abruptly,  turning  suddenly  towards 
him. 

"  Yes,  in  a  way.     Do  you  want  the  college  yell  ?  " 

"  Oh,  do  give  it !  " 

Jim  braced  himself  up,  filled  his  broad  chest  and  gave 
utterance  to  a  long,  spasmodic,  ear-rending  cry,  the  like 
of  which  had  certainly  never  been  heard  in  that  locality 
since  the  last  war-whoop  of  the  savages  resounded  on  the 
margin  of  the  lake.  The  cry  seemed  to  shatter  against 
the  face  of  the  cliff  and  come  quivering  back  to  them  like 
the  laughter  of  imprisoned  gnomes  in  the  rocks. 

"  Oh,  how  delightful !  "  cried  the  girl.  "•  That's  where 
men's  colleges  always  will  have  the  advantage  of  ours. 
We  can  scream,  but  we  can't  yell." 

They  resumed  their  walk  along  the  ties,  easy  for  her 
because  her  short  steps  just  fitted  the  closely  laid  sleepers  ; 
more  difficult  for  him,  as  the  beams  were  too  near  together 
for  his  long  strides,  and  top  far  apart  to  make  every 


214  The  Victors 

second  one  a  convenient  foot-rest.  The  two  talked  as 
gaily  and  inconsequentiy  as  a  pair  of  children,  and  were 
more  friendly  with  each  other  at  the  end  of  that  stroll 
of  an  hour  and  half  than  they  would  have  become  during 
a  year's  acquaintance  in  town.  She  told  him  of  the 
delight  of  travelling  all  through  the  West  to  the  Pacific 
coast  in  a  private  car  with  her  father ;  of  the  secrets  per- 
taining to  important  railway  conferences  which  she  knew, 
and  which  newspaper  men  would  have  given  much  to 
fathom;  of  journeying  in  Switzerland,  Germany  and 
Italy;  of  singing  lessons  in  Vienna,  and  what  not.  When 
the  college  was  mentioned  she  professed  some  eagerness  to 
learn  about  co-education  in  the  West,  an  idea  which  was 
making  its  way  but  slowly  toward  the  rising  sun.  She 
was  in  doubt  whether  or  not  it  was  desirable  that  young 
men  and  young  women  should  attend  the  same  classes,  and 
yet  why  not?  It  must  be  rather  jolly.  Did  he  think  so? 
He  saw  no  objection,  and  related  incidents.  \Vere  the 
girls  nice  ?  So  far  as  he  knew  they  were,  but  his  comrade, 
Ben  McAllister,  could  testify  with  greater  accuracy  on 
that  point.  Ben  was  engaged  to  one  of  them,  and  at  that 
moment  was  visiting  her.  Jim,  it  seemed  from  his  own 
account,  had  confined  his  attention  more  strictly  to  his 
books.  At  this  innocent  announcement  the  girl  walking 
by  his  side  glanced  shyly  askance  at  his  honest  face,  with 
a  slight,  incredulous  smile  on  her  pretty  lips. 

"  Ah,  there  is  the  Junction  at  last,"  she  said,  as  a  turn 
in  the  road  brought  the  station  buildings  into  sight.  "  I 
wonder  if  we  have  broken  a  record  in  pedestrianism  ?  We 
seemed  to  walk  pretty  fast." 

"  I  doubt  it,"  said  Jim,  looking  at  his  watch.  "  We 
have  accomplished  about  two  and  a  half  miles  in  an  hour.'' 

"  Is  that  all  ?  Well,  the  echoes  and  the  scenery  account 
for  slow  progress.' 

"  And  the  conversation,"  suggested  Jim. 

"  Yes,  and  the  conversation,"  she  assented.  "  That 
shortened  the  way,  but  lengthened  the  time.  I'm  afraid 
I  did  most  of  the  talking.  I  generally  do.  It's  a  woman's 
privilege,  you  know." 

But  Jim  maintained  he  had  contributed  his  share,  and 


"Mark  his  first  approach  before  my  lady"  215 

thus  they  arrived  at  the  long  platform  that  lay  between  the 
low  wooden  buildings  and  the  railway  tracks,  passing 
a  great  circular  tub  of  a  dripping  tank,  elevated  on  a 
timber  framework,  which  stood  like  a  burly  sentinel 
guarding  the  approach  to  the  Junction. 


CHAPTER    IV 

"l    SAT    UPON    A    PROMONTORY    AND    HEARD    A    MERMAID " 

THE  magic  name  of  Van  Ness  stirred  into  activity  and 
most  respectful  courtesy  the  amazed  station  agent  and  the 
telegraph  operator. 

"  Not  Mr.  Van  Ness,  the  manager?  "  said  the  latter. 

"  Yes,  he  is  my  father,  and  I  want  to  send  a  telegram 
to  him,  also  some  others  to  Montreal,  but  I  have  left  my 
purse  in  my  hand-bag,  and  that  is  in  the  drawing-room  of 
the  sleeping-car.  The  door  of  the  car  we  had  to  break 
open,  so  perhaps  some  one  should  be  sent  to  fasten  it, 
and  the  messenger  might  bring  my  satchel  when  he  re- 
turns." 

"  Certainly,  certainly,"  replied  the  station  agent.  "  I'll 
send  two  men  right  now  with  a  hand-car, and  they'll  bring 
back  your  things  in  a  jiffy;  but  you  don't  need  money, 
Miss  Van  Ness,  to  do  all  the  telegraphing  you  want." 

"  If  you  will  come  with  me,  Miss  Van  Ness,"  said  the 
operator,  leading  the  way  to  the  telegraph  office,  where  a 
chattering  brass  instrument  was  soliloquising,  "  you  can 
write  out  your  messages." 

She  sent  a  long  despatch  to  her  father,  a  shorter  one  to 
the  friends  at  Montreal  who  were  expecting  her,  and  a 
still  shorter  one  to  the  station  master  at  the  Grand  Trunk 
terminus,  asking  him  to  assure  the  French  maid  of  her 
safety,  for  the  woman,  Miss  Van  Ness  knew,  would  be 
raving  about  the  station  in  terror  at  finding  herself  alone, 
and  would  say  things  that  might  get  into  the  papers ;  so, 
being  the  true  daughter  of  a  railway  man,  she  had  all  his 
dread  of  anything  getting  into  the  press  which  could  be 
magnified  into  a  narrow  escape  from  death  or  disaster  on 
the  line,  which  indeed  the  incident  was.  So  she  asked  the 
operator  to  send  her  telegram  to  the  Montreal  station- 
216 


"I  sat  upon  a  promontory"  217 

master  first,  and  the  messages  to  her  friends  afterward. 
When  she  reached  the  platform  again  Monro  was  stand- 
ing there,  watching  two  energetic  men  pump  themselves 
out  of  sight  round  the  curve,  working  the  oscillating  lever 
of  the  hand-car  as  if  it  was  the  brake  of  an  old-fashioned 
fire-engine,  one  head  down  and  the  other  up  alternately, 
until  they  disappeared  along  the  crooked  line. 

"  Well,  the  telegraphing  is  done  with,"  she  an- 
nounced, "  and  now  there  is  nothing  to  do  but  wait." 

'*  The  station  agent  tells  me,"  said  Monro,  "  that  there's 
a  local  due  to  pass  this  place  in  two  hours  and  a  half.  It 
doesn't  stop  here  unless  it  is  signalled,  but  he  is  going  to 
flag  it  if  we  want  him  to." 

"  Two  hours  and  a  half !  Add  to  that  the  half-hour 
late — locals  are  always  late ;  they're  side-tracked  even  for 
a  fast  freight — that  is  three  hours  at  least.  Oh,  we  shall 
have  the  road  stirred  up  to  a  fine  state  of  excitement  long 
before  that  time,  or  I  don't  know  my  father.  I've  just 
told  the  operator  to  flag  me  when  he  has  a  reply,  and  he 
has  promised  to  put  out  a  red  signal  at  the  corner  of  the 
telegraph  office  \vhen  a  message  arrives.  This  is  such 
an  uninteresting  place  to  wait  in.  What  do  you  say  to 
climbing  the  hill  and  getting  a  view  of  the  land  and  water 
scapes  ?  " 

"  Delightful,  if  you  will  give  me  permission  to  go  with 
you." 

"  Permission?  Why,  I  have  just  asked  you  to  come,'' 
she  said,  smilingly ;  "  and  now  I  command  you." 

"  If  the  commands  of  Mr.  Van  Ness,  your  father,  are 
as  willingly  obeyed  as  those  of  his  daughter,  he  must  have 
a  well-disciplined  staff." 

"  It  is  very  efficient,  so  perhaps  the  right  of  rule  is 
hereditary  in  the  Van  Ness  family." 

"  I  shall  be  the  last  to  dispute  it,"  said  Jim,  with  a 
laugh,  as  they  crossed  the  railway  line  together  and 
mounted  the  steep  hill. 

They  ultimately  attained  the  edge  of  a  wood,  and  Miss 
Van  Ness  declared  nothing  was  to  be  gained  by  climb- 
ing higher,  as  the  trees  shut  out  the  view ;  and  indeed  the 
prospect  already  spread  out  before  them  was  enticing 


2i8  The  Victors 

enough  to  satisfy  the  most  exacting.  The  glittering  lake 
and  the  dim,  misty  hills  beyond  formed  a  most  alluring 
picture.  The  railway  was  hidden  for  the  most  part,  and 
when  seen  between  the  jutting  headlands  was  too  far 
away  to  mar  the  outlook.  They  sat  down  together  on  a 
fallen  log,  and  for  a  time  gazed  at  the  panorama  in  si- 
lence. At  last  they  caught  glimpses  of  the  hand-car  re- 
turning. "  How  quick  they  have  been ! "  she  said. 
"  They  have  beaten  our  time,  and  I  hope  they  have  my 
hand-bag  safe." 

"  Why  didn't  you  let  me  know  it  was  in  the  car ;  I 
could  have  carried  it  for  you." 

"To  tell  the  truth,  I  forgot  all  about  it;  but  in  any 
case  I  could  not  have  paid  you  for  the  porterage,  and  I 
can  pay  the  two  men ;  besides,  they  need  the  money,  and 
you  don't." 

"  How  do  you  know  ?  " 

"  Do  you?  "  she  asked,  quickly,  looking  at  him. 
"  Would  you  lend  me  some  ?  "  he  laughed. 
"  Why,  of  course.     How  much  ?     I  am  really  more 
deeply  indebted  to  you  than  to  the  men  we  were  speak- 
ing of.     Indeed  I  don't  know  what  I  should  have  done 
without  you  this  morning,  for  although  I  asked  you  so 
airily  to  break  open  that  door,  I  doubt  if  I  could  have 
done  it  myself.     Yes,  and  there's  the  breakfast,  too.     I 
owe  that  to  you  also,  but  with  the  ingratitude  of  the  well- 
fed,  I  had  forgotten." 

"  I  must  confess  that  the  view  you  are  kind  enough  to 
take  of  the  incident  had  not  occurred  to  me,  for  the 
pleasure  of  making  your  acquaintance  puts  the  indebted- 
ness all  on  my  side." 

Monro  managed  to  get  the  sentence  completed,  but  it 
was  with  evident  difficulty,  and  he  gazed  fixedly  at  the 
ground  below  him,  inwardly  reviling  the  commonplace 
and  obvious  remark  he  had  made,  wishing  he  could  think 
of  something  light  and  brilliant  to  say,  or  at  least  had 
the  skill  to  change  the  topic  of  conversation  without  ap- 
pearing to  do  so.  The  girl  glanced  slyly  at  him  with 
quiet  enjoyment.  He  was  so  refreshingly  different  from 
the  society  young  men  she  knew.  However,  Monro  pulled 


"  I  sat  upon  a  promontory  "  219 

himself  together,  and  abandoned  the  region  of  compli- 
mentary small  talk. 

"  I  think  it  likely  that  I  shall  be  a  railway  manager 
myself  some  day,"  he  continued.  All  my  luck  seems  to 
run  along  railway  lines.  The  reason  I  am  here  is  because 
of  a  railway  incident  in  Michigan  a  few  nights  ago.  My 
friend  and  myself  were  stealing  a  ride — " 

"Were  what?" 

"  Oh,  I  forgot  you  are  the  daughter  of  a  railway  man- 
ager. That  was  a  give-away  on  my  part,  wasn't  it?  I 
hope  you  won't  inform  on  me." 

"  I  can't  inform  until  I  know  your  crime.  How  do 
you  steal  a  ride  ?  By  getting  under  the  seat  and  avoiding 
the  conductor  when  he  comes  round  for  tickets  ?  " 

"  No.  We  don't  patronise  passenger  trains,  but  ac- 
cept the  hospitality  of  an  empty  car  on  a  freight.  It  is 
the  stalwart  brakeman  one  has  to  avoid,  not  the  con- 
ductor." 

"  How  jolly!     Please  tell  me  about  it." 

Jim  told  his  story  with  the  utmost  simplicity,  but  the 
narrative  had  all  the  graphic  reality  of  the  actual,  and  the 
girl  gave  absorbed  attention  to  it.  Here  was  the  railway 
business  viewed  from  the  under  side,  and  the  aspect  was 
new  to  her,  differing  as  much  from  the  Pullman  car 
standpoint  as  Jim  himself  differed  from  the  polished 
young  man  of  Fifth  avenue. 

Time  passed  quickly,  and  it  was  Monro  who  first  no- 
ticed that  the  red  flag  was  flying  down  at  the  station. 

"  Alas !  Your  telegram  has  come,"  he  said,  rising  to 
his  feet  with  a  sigh. 

"  Now  that  is  a  true  compliment,"  she  replied,  laughing 
and  springing  up  beside  him,  "  and  I  heartily  echo  your 
exclamation.  What  an  exciting  life  you  have  been  lead- 
ing! I  am  much  interested  in  your  man  Mitchell;  cold- 
blooded individual,  I  imagine." 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know.  Typically  business,  I  should  say. 
I  took  him  to  be  the  shrewd,  unemotional  business  man 
of  New  York." 

"  I  doubt  his  being  a  type.  I  am  acquainted  with  many 
New  York  business  men,  and  I  like  them  exceedingly. 


22O  The  Victors 

However,  a  man  who  had  dealings  with  them,  might  not 
be  of  my  opinion.  We  women,  after  all,  get  a  very  one- 
sided view  of  life,  but  now  and  then  events  come  to  my 
knowledge  that  show  business  to  be  a  cruel  thing.  My 
father,  who  is  the  best  and  kindest  of  men,  would  crush 
an  opponent  very  ruthlessly,  I  imagine,  where  the  inter- 
ests of  his  beloved  road  are  concerned.  That  is  what 
makes  for  success,  I  suppose." 

"  Success  for  he  victors,  yes ;  but  it  seems  a  pity  there 
should  be  any  vanquished." 

"  I  quite  agree  with  you." 

They  had  walked  slowly  down  the  hill  together,  with 
none  of  the  eagerness  of  persons  who  expect  important 
messages,  and  now  they  had  reached  the  railway  line. 

The  telegraph  operator  came  to  meet  them,  and  Jim 
found  himself  wishing  that  useful  man  were  not  so  con- 
foundedly officious.  He  handed  Miss  Van  Ness  a 
despatch,  which  she  read. 

"  Oh,  my  father  has  ordered  the  superintendent's  pri- 
vate car  to  come  for  me,  and  he  says  it  ought  to  reach 
here  within  an  hour  after  this  message.  When  did  the 
telegram  come?  Ah,  yes,  here's  the  time  at  the  top." 

"  The  special  will  arrive  in  about  fifteen  minutes,  Miss 
Van  Ness.  They  are  running  it  right  through  without 
any  delay,  I  can  tell  you,"  said  the  operator. 

When  they  reached  the  waiting-room  the  young  wo- 
man found  her  forgotten  bag  awaiting  her  on  a  bench. 
She  took  her  purse  from  it,  and  a  roll  of  bills  from  the 
purse. 

"  I  wish  you  would  give  these  to  the  hand-car  men," 
she  said  to  the  station-agent. 

"  Oh,  they're  all  right,"  he  demurred.  "  They  don't  ex- 
pect anything,  and  deserve  nothing;  it's  all  in  the  day's 
work." 

"  Well,  they  will  be  the  more  surprised,"  she  insisted, 
giving  him  the  money,  and  continued :  "  You  mustn't 
think  I  am  going  to  forget  you  or  the  telegraph  clerk 
either.  If  I  have  any  influence  at  headquarters,  and  I 
think  I  have,  there  will  be  two  promotions." 

"  Well,  miss,  this  isn't  the  liveliest  place  in  the  world, 


"I  sat  upon  a  promontory"  221 

and  I  don't  think  either  of  us  would  object  to  a  change 
for  the  better ;  many  thanks  to  you,  Mies  Van  Ness." 

"  Talk  of  the  visits  of  the  angels,"  said  Jim  when  she 
approached  him  with  a  card  in  her  hand.  "  You  scatter 
benefactions  wherever  you  go." 

"  And  very  pleasant  things  they  are  to  scatter,  so  here 
is  yours.  I  will  give  it  to  you  now  for  fear  I  forget  it 
later.  I  have  written  my  Montreal  address  on  my  card, 
and  thus  I  give  you  permission  to  call  upon  me,  your  re- 
ward being  that  I  shall  introduce  you  to  a  very  charm- 
ing young  lady,  the  daughter  of  the  house  where  I  am 
staying.  Their  customs  are  rather  English,  and  if  you 
call  about  five  o'clock  any  afternoon  I  can  promise  you 
afternoon  tea.  Perhaps  you  will  let  me  have  your  card 
in  exchange  ?  " 

Now  why  should  an  honest  young  man  tell  an  untruth 
and  be  afraid  to  confess  his  poverty?  Jim  stammered 
something  to  the  effect  that  his  card-case  had  gone 
through  with  his  baggage  to  Montreal,  whereas  he  never 
possessed  a  card-case  in  his  life,  and  had  no  baggage  to 
check.  Perhaps  the  clear  eyes  of  the  girl  saw  into  this 
deception,  and  perhaps  they  didn't.  One  never  can  tell 
exactly  of  what  a  demure-looking  maiden  may  be  think- 
ing. But  Jim  mentally  blessed  the  station-master  for  sav- 
ing the  situation  by  interrupting  them. 

"  Here  comes  the  special,  miss,"  he  said  as  .he  picked 
up  her  satchel.  The  long  whistle  of  the  locomotive  was 
heard  in  the  distance,  and  presently  the  short  train  com- 
prising engine,  baggage-car,  and  private  coach,  came  to  a 
standstill  at  the  platform.  The  superintendent's  car  was 
a  sumptuous  carriage,  with  great  plate-glass  windows  on 
either  side,  through  which  Jim  saw  the  luxurious  interior. 
A  table  in  the  centre  had  a  snowy  white  cloth  laid  on  it, 
and  from  a  richly-chased  silver  holder  spread  a  large  bou- 
quet of  radiant  flowers.  Silver,  crystal  and  plate  glittered 
on  the  table,  and  it  was  evident  that  the  occupant  of  the 
coach  was  not  expected  to  starve.  An  exceedingly  black 
negro  in  a  white  uniform  stood  upon  the  platform  of  the 
car,  a  smile  like  a  chalk-mark  spreading  across  his  face. 
He  sprang  nimbly  down  and  placed  a  carpeted  foot-stool 


222  The  Victors 

on  the  boards  at  the  bottom  of  the  steps,  then  taking  the 
bag  from  the  station-master,  he  stood  aside  deferentially 
as  Miss  Van  Ness  sprang  lightly  up  the  short  stair. 

"  Good-bye,  Miss  Van  Xess,"  said  Jim,  holding  out  his 
hand. 

The  girl  stopped  and  turned  quickly,  a  flash  of  surprise 
hi  her  eyes.  "  Why,  you  are  coming?  " 

"  No.    I  shall  wait  for  the  local." 

"  Nonsense !  This  special  will  get  into  Montreal  hours 
before  the  local,  or  any  other  train  on  the  road.  Of 
course  you  are  coming." 

It  would  have  been  difficult,  perhaps,  for  Jim  to  explain 
his  state  of  mind,  and  impossible  for  his  historian  to  give 
any  sane  reason  for  his  conduct.  It  seemed  a  sudden  im- 
pulse, hardening  as  suddenly  into  irrevocable  resolution. 
He  had  quite  intended  all  along  to  go  with  her  to  Mont- 
real, and  had  been  congratulating  himself  on  a  pleasant 
journey  with  a  charming  companion,  yet  here,  almost  in 
spite  of  himself,  he  had  swiftly  arrived  at  a  determina- 
tion not  to  enter  that  car,  and  he  knew  quite  well  no  per- 
suasion would  overcome  it,  pitying  himself  that  such 
was  the  case,  for  of  all  things  on  earth  he  most  desired 
was  to  do  what  he  had  just  said  he  would  not. 

The  girl  stood  on  the  platform,  her  small,  daintily 
gloved  hands  resting  on  the  silver-plated  rail,  and  looked 
down  on  him  with  wonder  in  her  wide-open  eyes  and  a 
little  line  of  perplexity  on  her  smooth,  fair  brow. 

"  It  is  very  kind  of  you  to  invite  me,  Miss  Van  Ness, 
but  I'm  really  in  no  hurry — and — and — as  you  suggested 
this  morning,  I — reserve  my  right  of  action  against  the 
road  for  delaying  me,  and  so,  you  see — 

"  I  see  that  you  are  not  very  logical,  Mr.  Monro.  You 
are  in  no  hurry,  yet  you  talk  of  an  action  for  delay.  Isn't 
the  road  doing  all  it  can  to  make  amends  for  what  was, 
after  all,  an  accident  ?  " 

"  Oh,  the  road  isn't  sending  this  car  for  me." 

"  Yes,  it  is.  You  had  better  change  your  mind,  Mr. 
Monro." 

Jim  smiled  the  forlorn  smile  of  a  man  with  a  toothache 
and  shook  his  head  sadly,  inwardly  maligning  himself  as 


"  I  sat  upon  a  promontory  "  223 

a  boorish  imbecile ;  sorry  for  himself,  yet  unable  to  over- 
come his  own  obstinacy.  He  glanced  up  at  her  and  saw 
a  misty  film  dim  the  brightness  of  her  eyes ;  then  she  drew 
herself  up  proudly  from  the  bending  position  that  had 
something  of  beseechment  in  it. 

"  Oh,  very  well,"  she  said  coldly;  then  with  exuberant 
vivacity  cried  to  the  station-master: 

"  Thank  you  ever  so  much  for  your  kindness.  I  shall 
not  forget.  Please  tell  the  engine-driver  to  go  ahead." 

The  engineer  had  been  hanging  out  of  the  cab  window 
looking  to  the  rear  of  his  short  train.  The  station-master 
held  his  arm  aloft  and  let  it  drop  like  a  semaphore. 

"  All  right,  Billy !  "  he  shouted,  and  the  unseen  hand  of 
the  engineer  gave  a  tug  at  the  whistle  rope,  his  own  head 
and  shoulders  disappearing.  The  car  began  to  glide  awav 
as  smoothly  as  a  launching  ship,  and  Jim  felt  a  madden- 
ing impulse  to  run  after  it  and  swing  himself  aboard, 
but  he  stood  stock  still.  Miss  Van  Ness  seemed  about  to 
withdraw  without  further  greeting,  but  she  half  turned 
and  again  faced  him. 

"  Good-bye,  Mr.  Monro,"  she  said. 

"  Good-bye,  Miss  Van  Ness." 

She  entered  the  car,  but  looked  back  once  more  from 
the  doorway,  and  Jim,  standing  bareheaded,  saw  the  flut- 
ter of  a  white  handkerchief  from  the  rapidly  lessening  end 
of  the  car.  He  waved  his  hat  as  the  door  closed  and  the 
special  whisked  out  of  sight  round  the  promontory. 

"  You — damned — fool !  "   he  growled  to  himself. 

"What  did  you  say,  sir?"  asked  the  amazed  station- 
master,  with  a  threat  in  his  voice. 

"  I  wasn't  talking  to  you.  What  time  does  the  local 
stop  here  ?  " 

"  It  doesn't  stop  here.    I  told  you  that  before." 

"  But  you  said  you  would  flag  it." 

"  I  said  I'd  flag  it  for  Miss  Van  Ness.  I  didn't  say  I'd 
flag  it  for  you." 

"  Now,  look  here,  my  man,  don't  make  any  mistake 
about  this.  I'm  stranded  here  through  the. fault  of  your 
company ;  if  you've  the  least  doubt  about  flagging  that 
train  for  me,  you  had  better  telegraph  and  find  out.  If 


224  The  Victors 

you  are  expecting  promotion  don't  make  it  difficult  for 
Miss  Van  Ness  by  committing  an  unnecessary  error." 

The  station-master  scratched  his  chin  and  concluded 
that  this  was  not  bad  advice.  He  telegraphed,  and  shortly 
after  came  out  to  a  very  dissatisfied  man  and  said  to 
him: 

"  The  local  has  orders  to  stop  here  and  pick  you  up, 
sir." 

"  All  right,"  commented  Jim.  Then  he  went  down  to 
the  margin  of  the  lake  and  sombrely  threw  stones  into  the 
water,  cursing  himself  as  the  greatest  simpleton  in  all  the 
land,  with  which  estimate  many  of  us  will  find  little  dif- 
ficulty in  agreeing. 


CHAPTER  V 
"FIRST,  SIR,  i  PRAY,  WHAT  is  YOUR  TITLE?" 

WONDERFUL  are  the  facilities  possessed  by  these  rail- 
way people.  They  own  the  modern  equivalent  of  the 
flying  carpet,  which  made  travelling  easy  when  the  stories 
of  the  Arabian  Nights  were  first  related.  As  the  special 
sped  along  the  rails  with  a  clear  right  of  way,  Grace  Van 
Ness  wandered  somewhat  aimlessly  round  the  spacious 
saloon  of  the  private  car,  now  burying  her  face  in  the  fra- 
grant bouquet,  now  selecting  a  volume  from  the  little 
bookcase  in  the  corner,  now  sitting  at  the  piano  and  strik- 
ing a  few  chords,  now  settling  herself  in  a  comfortable 
rocking-chair,  trying  to  become  interested  in  a  book,  and 
failing.  The  rocker  proved  unsuitable  because  of  the 
swaying  of  the  car,  and  the  porter,  who  hovered  about, 
anxious  to  be  of  service,  placed  a  cane  chair  by  the  great 
sheet  of  plate-glass,  arranged  the  cushions  dexteriously, 
and  there  she  sat,  quiet  at  last,  resting  her  chin  on  her 
hand,  gazing  out  at  the  scenery.  Stations  flashed  past  of 
no  particular  interest,  for  the  special  was  not  timed  to  halt 
at  any  of  them ;  but  suddenly  there  came  a  shudder  of  the 
brake  and  a  slowing  down  of  the  train,  which  paused 
rather  than  stopped,  while  a  bareheaded  man  handed  up 
an  envelope  to  the  porter.  It  was  a  telegram  for  Grace 
Van  Ness  from  Sir  Murray  Henderson,  the  Canadian 
railway  magnate,  her  Montreal  host.  The  dispatch  in- 
formed her  that  he  had  received  her  message  and  that  he 
had  been  in  communication  with  her  father,  offering  the 
hospitality  of  his  own  private  car  before  learning  that  the 
superintendent's  was  already  on  the  way.  His  daughter 
Gussie,  however,  was  not  to  be  deprived  of  her  expected 
journey,  so  Sir  Murray  and  she  would  be  waiting  for 
Miss  Van  Ness  when  the  special  reached  the  Canadian 

225 


226  The  Victors 

border  line,  and  if  she  would  be  good  enough  to  join 
them,  the  superintendent's  car  might  return  to  Platts- 
burgh,  to  be  ready  for  the  next  damsel  errant  who  be- 
came mislaid  on  the  Montreal-New  York  railway  sys- 
tem. 

For  the  first  time  since  she  entered  the  car  the  girl 
smiled  as  she  read  the  genial  baronet's  jovial  letter,  for  it 
was  as  long  as  a  letter,  so  reckless  are  magnates  in  the 
use  of  electricity.  Then  she  murmured  to  herself :  "  I'm 
glad  he  didn't  come,  after  all." 

When  the  special  was  brought  to  a  stand  at  the  frontier 
station,  Grace  found  her  friend  Gussie  Henderson  waiting 
with  her  father.  The  girls  greeted  each  other  warmly,  in 
the  emotional  fashion  of  feminine  human  nature  ;  then  the 
New  Yorker  impulsively  stretched  out  her  hands  to  the 
florid-faced  great  man  with  white  bushy  side-whiskers, 
which  emphasised  the  ruddy  complexion  they  framed. 

"  Why,  Sir  Murray !  "  she  cried,  "  Sir  Murray  Hen- 
derson !  I  shall  keep  on  repeating  that  name  all  day. 
And  you  don't  seem  a  bit  changed  either.  I  expected  jou 
to  be  ever  so  formal.  I  didn't  know  but  I  should  have  to 
kneel,  or  curtsy,  or  do  something  old-fashioned  when  I 
met  you  again.  Doesn't  it  make  a  difference  ?  " 

"  Now,  you  young  minx,"  laughed  the  celebrity  in  a 
bluff  large-hearted  way,  "  you  are  not  to  begin  on  me  in 
this  fashion.  I've  had  enough  of  it.  That's  the  disad- 
vantage of  living  so  close  to  a  republic.  You  have  no 
respect  for — " 

"  Oh,  but  I  have,"  interrupted  the  girl  breathlessly. 
"  I'm  quite  ready  to  kneel  right  here  on  these  boards,  if 
it  is  the  proper  thing  to  do,  Sir  Murray.  Why,  I've  been 
going  about  New  York  two  inches  taller  ever  since  I 
heard  that  you  were  made  a  baronet ;  and  boasting,  too ; 
saying  carelessly,  as  if  it  were  a  small  matter,  "  Sir  Mur- 
ray Henderson,  K.  C.  B.,  has  invited  me  to — " 

"  There  isn't  any  K.  C.  B.,  you  goose." 

"  Well,  there  is,  when  I  speak  of  you.  It's  all  right — 
merely  a  division  of  labour.  The  Queen  gives  you  the 
'  Sir/  and  I  give  you  the  K.  C.  B.  I  tell  you,  we  women 
spoil  you  between  us,  don't  we,  Gussie  ?  " 


"  First,  sir,  I  pray,  what  is  your  title?"     227 

She  tucked  her  hand  under  his  arm,  snuggling  up  to 
him,  while  his  daughter  occupied  a  similar  position  on  the 
other  side,  and,  the  old  man  chuckling  with  much  good- 
nature, they  walked  up  the  platform  to  his  private  car, 
which  was  in  waiting  for  them. 

"  I  suppose  your  luggage  has  gone  on,"  he  said. 

"  My  luggage !  How  lovely  that  sounds !  Yes,  it  was 
checked  through,  although  it  was  only  baggage  when  it 
started.'' 

"  You're  a  baggage  yourself,  and  I  know  I'm  in  for  a 
dreadful  time,  you  disrespectful  little  Yank." 

"  Thank  you,  Sir  Murray ;  and  is  Lady  Murray  quite 
well  ?  " 

"  Lady  Henderson,  if  you  don't  mind." 

"  Oh,  that's  it,  is  it  ?  How  does  your  mother  stand  it, 
Gussie?  And,  Gussie,  what  are  you?  Don't  you  and  I 
get  any  reflected  glory  out  of  all  this  ?  I  thought  I  might 
become  the  Honourable  Grace  Van  Ness,  at  least  just 
on  the  score  of  old  friendship." 

"  Oh,  I  guess  we  could  manage  that  with  a  '  dis,'  for 
you  do  take  a  most  dishonourable  advantage  of  an  old 
man  who  can't  help  himself,"  growled  the  new  baronet. 

"  You  shouldn't  say  '  I  guess,'  Sir  Murray.  I  don't 
know  much  about  the  rules  of  knighthood,  but  I  am  sure 
'  I  guess'  is  eliminated." 

By  this  time  they  were  comfortably  settled  in  the 
drawing-room  of  Sir  Murray's  car,  an  apartment  less 
gaudy  perhaps  than  the  one  she  had  just  quitted,  but 
rich  and  homelike  in  its  appointments,  differing  from  the 
other  as  a  residence  differs  from  a  hotel.  A  table  was 
laid  for  tea,  the  silver  urn  steaming  over  a  spirit  lamp ; 
instead  of  a  negro  there  was  a  trim  maid-servant  in  white 
cap  and  apron,  who,  with  quiet  deftness,  performed  the 
services  required  of  her. 

"  Tea  is  quite  ready,  sir,"  she  said,  in  a  subdued  tone, 
with  a  slight  accent  on  the  '  quite '  that  fell  on  the  sensi- 
tive ears  of  Miss  Van  Ness  with  a  suggestion  of  some- 
thing foreign. 

"  And  now,  Grace,"  said  the  railway  man  with  a  sigh 
of  relief  that  he  was  thus  deftly  escaping  further  banter 


228  The  Victors 

on  his  newly-acquired  title,  "  what  I  want  to  know  is, 
what  happened  ?  " 

"  Precisely  what  I  want  to  know,  too,  Sir  Murray.  Of 
course  I've  read  it  up.  You  knelt,  and  her  majesty 
tapped  you  lightly  on  the  shoulder  with  a  real  sword  and 
said,  '  Rise,  Sir  Murray  Henderson,'  and  you  rose  grace- 
fully, I  hope.  And  where  did  this  take  place :  at  Wind- 
sor castle  or  at  Buckingham  palace  ?  At  Windsor  castle, 
I  trust,  but  then  I  don't  know.  I  shouldn't  be  able  to 
make  up  my  mind  if  I  had  the  choice,  which  I  suppose 
you  hadn't,  and  that  takes  such  a  weight  off  one's  mind. 
Do  tell  me  all  about  it.  Don't  you  see  I'm  just  dying  to 
hear  the  particulars." 

"  Now,  my  girl,  I  give  you  fair  warning,  I'll  lock  you 
up  in  the  pantry  if  you  keep  on." 

"  Can  a  baronet  do  that  ?    My !  " 

"Yes,  he  can,  when  he's  scoffed  at  in  his  own  car." 

"  But  not  the  pantry,  Sir  Murray.  Surely  you've  had 
a  new  dungeon  put  on  since  you  returned  from  Eng- 
land?" 

"  You'll  find  it  dungeon  enough  when  you  exasperate 
me  sufficiently.  Why  don't  you  respect  our  cherished  in- 
stitutions? Goodness  knows  you  people  are  sensitive 
enough  about  your  own  when  any  foreigner  lays  hands  on 
them." 

"  Why,  Sir  Murray,  you  persist  in  destroying  my  best 
loved  ideals.  Do  you  know,  I  have  long  thought  that 
republics  stand  in  their  own  light  by  not  bestowing 
titles ;  it  is  such  a  cheap  system  of  prize-giving — " 

"  There  you  go  again.  Now,  that's  pure  feminine  envy, 
in  the  guise  of  a  lofty  down-looking  on  masculine  vanity. 
A  cheap  system  indeed !  I  like  the  cheek  of  that." 

"  Well,  you  must  admit  it's  cheap,  because  it  doesn't 
cost  the  government  anything.  That's  where  it  differs 
from  a  pension  list.  Indeed  I  believe  it  brings  in  a  revenue 
to  the  government.  In  a  book  I  have  read  on  the  subject 
it  says  something  about  newly-made  nobles  having  to  pay 
certain  fees,  I  forget  how  much  or  what  for,  but  I'm  in 
right  down  earnest.  Our  country  is  like  a  paper  that 
gives  only  money  prizes.  Over  sixty  thousand  persons 


"  First,  sir,  I  pray,  what  Is  your  title  ?"     229 

crowd  into  Washington  to  secure  the  salaries  when- 
ever a  new  President  is  elected ;  office-seekers,  we  call 
them,  and  I  think  it  pitiful,  for  they  are  sixty  thousand 
confessed  failures  who  look  to  the  government  to  support 
them ;  sixty  thousand  persons  who  admit  they  cannot 
make  money  enough  to  support  themselves.  I  think  it 
lowering  to  the  dignity  and  moral  tone  of  the  country 
that  its  prizes  are  all  in  cash.  We  always  estimate  suc- 
cess in  dollars.  Now,  the  noble  things  of  life  are  not  done 
for  money.  A  soldier  does  not  lead  a  forlorn  hope  for 
what  there  is  to  be  made  out  of  it.  If  we  women  ever  get 
into  power  at  Washington,  we'll  change  all  that." 

"  You  women  are  in  power,  my  dear,  everywhere.  Just 
notice  how  I  am  hanging  on  your  words." 

"  You  listen  to  us,  but  you  won't  act  on  our  suggestions 
until  we  have  votes.  When  that  time  comes,  beware. 
Every  woman  is  at  heart — " 

"  Now,  Grace,  stop.  Don't  quote  Pope's  libellous  line 
in  my  hearing." 

"  — Is  at  heart  an  aristocrat,  Sir  Murray.  We  are 
not  a  bit  republican,  although  we  sometimes  pretend  to 
be." 

"  Let's  see,  Gussie ;  isn't  there  a  lord  or  two  on  that 
committee  sent  out  from  England  to  investigate  our  rail- 
way affairs  ?  "  asked  Sir  Murray  suavely. 

"  Only  one,  father,  and  he  is  sixty  years  old." 

"  Dear  me,  so  he  is.  I'm  very  sorry,  Grace,  for  I  really 
wanted  to  reserve  one  for  you,  but  I  believe  we  are  a  lit- 
tle short  of  lords  in  Montreal  just  now.  You  see,  they 
all  go  to  New  York  and  Newport." 

"  Couldn't  you  get  your  sixty-year-old  noble  to  adopt 
me?  Surely  such  an  ingenious  man  as  Sir  Murray  Hen- 
derson is  not  going  to  be  defeated  by  a  mere  temporary 
scarcity." 

"  By  Jove,  I'll  import  one ;  there's  no  duty  on  'em.  But 
with  all  this  inconsequential  talk  we  are  missing  the  im- 
portant point.  I  did  not  quite  understand  from  our  tele- 
gram exactly  what  took  place.  Was  there  an  accident? 
How  came  you  to  be  left  behind  ?  " 

"  That  doesn't  happen  very  often,  does  it,  Sir  Murray? 


230  The  Victors 

There  was  a  broken  wheel  on  the  sleeper.  I  imagine  we 
were  in  the  thick  of  a  fog,  and  that  they  feared  the  on- 
coming of  another  train,  so  they  were  naturally  in  a 
hurry.  They  side-tracked  the  sleeper  in  a  gravel-pit,  and 
moved  out  the  passengers  as  quickly  as  possible.  Luckily 
the  broken  wheel  was  on  the  last  coach,  which  made  the 
side-tracking  speedy.  I  occupied  the  drawing-room,  and 
thus  was  overlooked." 

"  What  a  remarkable  thing !  There  was  no  one  else  left 
behind,  of  course  ?  " 

"  You  see  my  maid  slept  in  the  next  car  forward,  other- 
wise there  would  have  been  two  of  us.  In  fact  if  she  had 
been  in  my  car  and  had  been  awakened  she  would  never 
have  gone  away  without  me,  and  so  even  I  should  not 
have  been  overlooked." 

"  Weren't  you  frightened  when  you  awoke  and  found 
yourself  alone  ?  "  Gussie  inquired. 

"  Oh,  not  at  all.  It  was  broad  daylight,  and  a  moment's 
investigation  showed  me  what  had  occurred." 

"  Had  you  nothing  to  eat  till  the  special  came  ?  I  sup- 
pose you  walked  on  to  the  nearest  station." 

"  Yes,  but  it  wasn't  far,  and  the  men  at  the  Junction 
were  very  kind.  A  farmhouse  woman  provided  me  with 
breakfast." 

Gussie  gazed  admiringly  with  wide-open  eyes  at  the 
heroine  of  such  an  adventure.  She  was  a  quiet  girl,  and 
spent  her  time  in  absorbed  contemplation  of  her  vivacious 
friend,  who  now  and  then  smiled  confidingly  at  her. 

When  they  reached  Montreal  Sir  Murray's  carriage  was 
waiting  for  them,  and  it  took  them  quickly  through  the 
city,  and  then  more  slowly  up  the  steep  mountain  street 
to  the  commodious  stone-built  mansion  that  was  to  be  the 
temporary  home  of  Grace  Van  Ness.  Her  room  had 
large  windows  giving  a  wide  view  over  the  spreading 
city,  with  the  blue  waters  of  the  broad  St.  Lawrence  be- 
yond, crossed  by  the  long  line  of  the  Victoria  bridge,  dis- 
tance mitigating  in  some  measure  its  extreme  utilitarian 
ugliness.  Grace  Van  Ness  was  standing  at  the  window 
gazing  at  the  view  when  the  door  opened,  and  Gussie 
came  in. 


"  First,  sir,  I  pray,  what  is  your  title  ?"      231 

"  O,  Grace,"  she  cried  breathlessly,  "  I  have  such  a 
secret  to  tell  you.  I  was  afraid  to  speak  above  a  whisper 
in  the  car  because  father  might  guess  that  I  knew.  But 
now  that  we  are  alone — It's  all  about  you,  Grace." 

"  Dear  me !  "  exclaimed  Grace,  turning  to  her  excited 
visitor.  "  Nothing  dreadful,  I  hope." 

"  Perhaps  you  can  guess  it."  Gussie  naturally  wished 
to  make  the  most  of  her  discovery,  and  expected  at  least 
payment  in  the  interest  and  attention  of  her  listener.  "  It's 
about  you  and  a  young  man." 

"  Oh,"  whispered  Grace,  with  something  like  a  gasp. 
Had  Sir  Murray,  then,  learned  that  a  young  man  had 
been  left  in  the  sleeping-car,  and  were  her  evasions  when 
questioned  entirely  futile?  With  knitted  brow  she 
rapidly  ran  over  in  her  mind  what  had  been  said  on  the 
subject  of  the  accident.  She  thought  she  had  given  no 
clew,  but  was  not  sure.  Gussie  regarded  her  with  de- 
lighted and  absorbed  attention ;  she  now  had  no  complaint 
to  make  of  interest  lacking. 

"  I  see  you  know  whom  I  mean.  O,  Grace,  you  must 
tell  me  about  him.  Is  he  good-looking?  " 

"  Passably ;  yes.  I  think  he  is  good-looking — as  men 
go." 

"  And  talks  well  ?  I  do  like  men  who  talk  well.  I 
could  listen  all  day." 

"  Yes,  he  talks  well  enough.  I've  promised  to  in- 
troduce him  to  you,  so  you  can  judge  for  yourself, 
Gussie." 

"  O,  Grace,  is  he  coming  to  Montreal  ?  " 

"  Why,  of  course." 

"  Then  the  plot  will  fail.  O,  dear  Grace,  I'm  so  glad. 
That's  just  as  it  is  in  books,  only  there's  lots  and  lots  of 
difficulties  before  it  gets  so  far." 

"  What  plot  ?     Gussie,  what  are  you  talking  about  ?  " 

"  Dearest  Grace,  won't  you  make  me  your  confidante  ? 
Interesting  girls  like  you  always  have  a  confidante,  only 
most  confidantes  betray,  but  that  I'll  never  do.  I'll  plan 
and  scheme,  and  we'll  have  secret  meetings  up  on  the 
top  of  the  mountain,  which  is  a  splendid  place,  with  such 
a  view ! " 


232  The  Victors 

"  I  shall  call  you  goosie  instead  of  Gussie  in  a  mo- 
ment if  you  keep  on  like  that.  There  will  be  no  secret 
meetings.  I  asked  the  young  man  to  call  on  me  here." 

"  But  that  would  never,  never  do,  Grace.  Mr.  Van 
Ness  will  discover  all,  for  father  is  sure  to  write  to  him." 

"Well,  what  of  it?     I  shouldn't  mind." 

"  Oh,  that's  because  you  don't  know.  I  suppose  you 
would  never  guess  why  your  father  sent  you  here." 

"Papa?  He  didn't.  I  wanted  to  come  myself  and  see 
you.  I  think  he  suggested  my  coming,  but  I'm  not  even 
sure  of  that.  He  spoke  of  my  going  to  Europe  this  sum- 
mer, but  I  believe  I  proposed  Canada  myself." 

"  O,  you  poor,  persecuted  girl,  you  have  no  idea  of  the 
web  that  has  been  woven  round  you;  but  I  have  discov- 
ered all  their  machinations,  and  we  will  circumvent  them 
yet.  Do  you  love  him  very  much  ?  You  won't  forget  him, 
will  you,  Grace,  and  when  you  write  to  him  I  will  carry 
your  letters,  for  they  will  never  suspect  me." 

Grace  sat  down  by  the  table,  rested  her  elbows  on  it, 
with  her  chin  in  her  hands,  and  looked  across  at  her 
friend  with  an  amused  twinkle  in  her  eyes. 

"  I  suspect  you,  Gussie.  I  suspect  that  you  have  been 
reading  too  many  sensational  novels.  Will  you  tell  me  in 
plain  words  what  it  is  that  you  have  discovered  ?  " 

"  It's  about  Vincent  St.  John.     Now  do  you  know?  " 

Grace  leaned  back  in  her  chair  and  sighed,  but  the  sigh 
was  one  of  relief,  although  Gussie  did  not  so  interpret 
it. 

"  What  about  poor  Vin  ?  Papa  never  liked  him,  and 
yet  he  is  reasonably  well-to-do,  even  rich,  if  he  manages 
to  keep  his  money,  and  harsh  fathers  are  supposed  to  ob- 
ject to  the  penniless  young  man.  Tell  me  all,  Gussie ;  I 
have  strength  to  bear  it." 

"  Well,  quite  accidentally,  you  know,  I  overheard  father 
and  mother  talking  about  your  coming  here,  and  of 
course  I  was  interested.  It  seems  your  father  is  afraid 
you  and  Mr.  St.  John  are  becoming  too  much  attached 
to  each  other,  so  he  arranged  for  you  to  come  here  that 
you  might  forget  him.  But  you  won't,  will  you, 
Grace?" 


"  First,  sir,  I  pray,  what  is  your  title  ?"    233 

"  Did  my  father  write  to  yours,  then,  on  this  subject?  " 

"  I  think  it  was  my  mother  whom  he  talked  with,  the 
last  time  she  was  in  New  York,  for  she  was  warning 
father  not  to  say  anything  jocular  about  young  men 
when  you  were  here,  otherwise  you  might  not  forget. 
And  then  she  told  him  about  Vincent  St.  John." 

"  Poor  papa !  As  I  have  no  mother  of  my  own,  he 
is  anxious  about  me,  and  takes  counsel  of  other  people's 
mothers.  He  would  have  greater  peace  of  mind  if  he 
consulted  with  me,  but  he's  so  bashful  he's  afraid  to  begin 
a  conversation  on  such  delicate  subjects  as  love  and  pos- 
sible marriage." 

"  Who  is  bashful?    Mr.  Van  Ness?  " 

"  Yes,  the  dear  man.  He  reminds  me  of  a  school- 
boy." 

"  But  surely,  Grace,  you  are  not  going  to  desert  the 
man  you  love,  and  who  loves  you,  at  the  dictation  of  your 
father?" 

"  Ah,  that's  the  novel  again,  Gussie.  Papa  would 
never  dictate  to  me  unless  I  became  his  typewriter,  which 
is  not  likely.  And  who  is  more  devoted  to  me  than  my 
own  father?  Why,  he  loves  me  better  than  his  North 
Star  express,  and  he  keeps  awake  nights  thinking  of  that. 
No,  the  dictation  will  be  the  other  way  about,  Gussie.  If 
ever  things  come  to  a  crisis  with  me,  I'll  drive  my  dear 
papa  into  a  corner  where  he  can't  escape,  and  then  de- 
cisively patting  my  forefinger  on  my  open  palm,  like  this, 
I'll  say,  '  You  must  face  the  music,  papa.  Your  only 
daughter  is  in  love,  and  wishes  to  discuss  the  young  man 
with  you.'  Then  papa  will  become  confused,  will  blush 
like  a  girl,  will  try  to  get  away  on  a  mythical  engagement, 
will  look  everywhere  in  the  room  except  at  his  daughter, 
and  so  at  last  we'll  have  a  nice  friendly  talk  about  it, 
when  he  finds  there  is  no  way  of  avoiding  it." 

"  But  surely,  Grace,  you  are  not  going  to  forget  Vincent 
St.  John." 

Grace  interlaced  her  fingers  at  the  back  of  her  neck, 
and  dreamily  studied  the  dim  blue  hills  far  beyond  the  St. 
Lawrence.  Gussie  gazed  at  her  anxiously. 

"  I  am  sorry,  Gussie,  to  fall  so  far  short  of  your  antici- 


234  The  Victors 

pations,  but  to  tell  the  honest  truth,  I  had  completely  for- 
gotten him  until  you  mentioned  his  name.  The  accident 
on  the  road  must  have  had  something  to  do  with  it — I 
began  to  forget  him  while  walking  along  the  margin  of 
the  lake  toward  the  Junction." 


CHAPTER   VI 

"l    HAVE   A    BAG   OF    MONEY    HERE   THAT    TROUBLES    ME" 

THE  local  train  gave  James  Monro  ample  time  for  re- 
flection before  it  ultimately  landed  him  in  Montreal,  with 
a  dilatoriness  that  borrowed  something  like  an  hour  from 
its  own  deliberate  time  allowance.  The  subject  of  his 
meditation  was  chiefly  his  own  stupidity,  and  his  mind 
filled  in  the  intervals,  when  this  theme  palled  on  him,  by 
debating  whether  or  not  he  should  call  on  Miss  Van  Ness 
when  he  arrived  at  the  northern  city.  She  had  asked 
him  to  call,  and  had  even  gone  so  far  as  to  name  the 
hour,  but  that  was  before  she  learned  he  did  not  intend 
to  take  advantage  of  the  special  train.  Perhaps  the  young 
woman  was  justly  offended  at  his  boorishness,  and  would 
give  him  but  a  cold  welcome  if  he  attempted  to  proceed 
further  with  the  acquaintance.  -And  then,  he  reflected, 
there  was  but  little  use  of  a  man  in  his  position,  with 
practically  no  money,  lacking  even  a  permanent  situation, 
venturing  to  acquire  friendship  with  a  frivolous  fashion- 
able girl  of  New  York,  whose  father  was  reputed  to  be  a 
millionaire.  Like  other  vanities  of  life,  friendship  with 
the  rich  costs  money,  and  Jim  had  no  money  to  spare. 
Pat  Maguire  might  have  seen  a  great  opportunity  here, 
and  would  doubtless  have  followed  it  with  an  enthusiasm 
all  his  own,  but  Jim,  like  all  American  young  men,  had  a 
sublime  faith  that  he  would  be  rich  one  day  through  his 
own  efforts,  and  this  goal  was  so  certain  of  attainment 
that  the  ways  and  means  of  reaching  it  troubled  him  but 
little,  so  that  the  idea  of  utilising  a  chance  acquaintance  in 
any  way  to  further  his  own  interests  never  even  occurred 
to  him.  The  self-confidence  of  an  American  youth  with 
reference  to  his  future  career  is  something  colossal. 
Nature,  in  permitting  or  arranging  for  this  state  of 

235 


236  The  Victors 

mind,  seems  desirous  of  setting  up  a  mental  phe- 
nomenon that  will  bear  some  resemblance  to  the  physi- 
cal grandeur  of  Niagara  or  the  Yosemite.  The  young 
man  is  not  only  positive  he  will  speedily  accumu- 
late a  fortune,  but  regards  with  equanimity  the  possible 
loss  of  it  and  looks  forward  with  firm  assurance  to  the 
making  of  a  bigger  one  shortly  after.  He  jauntily  throws 
away  chances  that  a  citizen  of  a  less  favoured  country 
would  grasp  with  pathetic  eagerness,  as  the  emigrant, 
newly  arrived,  ignored  the  gold  piece  lying  on  the  pave- 
ment, not  wishing  to  bother  about  trifles,  as  he  intended 
to  fill  his  pockets  when  he  came  to  the  pile. 

In  the  midst  of  his  cogitations  Jim  thrust  his  hand 
against  something  unaccustomed  and  drew  from  his 
pocket  a  book  bound  in  limp  leather,  which  he  viewed 
with  perplexed  brow  for  a  moment,  wondering  how  it 
came  into  his  possession.  It  was  Trautwine's  treatise  on 
surveying,  and  a  glance  at  its  title  brought  to  his  mind 
the  strange  creature  who  had  given  it  to  him,  with  the  in- 
junction that  he  should  spend  some  odd  moments  study- 
ing it.  He  tried  to  do  so,  but  civil  engineering  suggested 
the  subject  of  the  railway,  which  suggested  the  subject  of 
the  manager,  which  suggested  the  subject  of  the 
manager's  daughter,  whereupon  the  book  closed  of  itself 
and  slid  back  into  the  coat  pocket.  Trautwine,  good 
mathematical  man,  probably  never  intended  his  dark 
cover  to  come  into  competition  with  a  pair  of  hazel  eyes, 
from  which  contest  it  has  probably  retired  defeated  many 
a  time  since  then. 

But,  long  as  the  journey  was,  Jim  had  not  settled  upon 
any  particular  course  to  pursue  when  the  train  rumbled 
into  the  window-checkered  darkness  of  that  long  artificial 
tunnel  called  the  Victoria  bridge.  He  thought  with  a 
sigh  that  all  engineers  were  alike,  Trautwine  no  worse 
than  his  fellows,  for  here  was  a  chance  of  an  unexampled 
view  of  river,  city  and  mountain  ;  but  Stephenson  could  do 
nothing  better  with  his  train  than  shut  it  up  in  a  long 
,box  while  it  was  crossing,  thus  treating  the  passengers  to 
a  season  of  blinking  blindness. 

Once  arrived,  the  young  man  set  himself  to  the  finding 


"  I  have  a  bag  of  money  here  "    237 

of  a  hotel  that  would  not  be  so  dear  as  to  be  ruinous,  nor 
so  cheap  as  to  be  unsafe.  Having  suited  himself,  he  tele- 
graphed his  address  to  New  York,  adding  that  he  had 
been  delayed  by  a  break-down  of  the  train.  This  done, 
he  found  a  tailor  who  seemed  to  be  in  a  sufficiently 
fashionable  way  of  business,  and  had  himself  measured 
for  a  suit  of  clothes,  which  was  an  outlay  he  had  not 
counted  upon  when  he  left  New  York.  He  told  himself 
that  he  had  just  remembered  Montreal  was  a  cheaper 
place  in  which  to  order  clothes  than  New  \ork,  and  so, 
with  little  regard  to  the  revenue  requirements  of  his  own 
country,  he  resolved  to  take  back  some  clothing  with  him. 
Yet  his  talk  with  the  tailor  showed  an  anxiety  for  style 
rather  than  for  economy. 

While  the  suit  was  being  made  he  studied  civil  en- 
gineering on  those  occasions  when  his  mind  was  not  taken 
up  with  the  problem  whether  he  should  call  at  the  resi- 
dence of  Sir  Murray  Henderson  or  not.  He  passed  that 
palatial  mansion  several  times  in  his  walks  abroad,  al- 
though his  hotel  was  far  from  it,  in  the  lower  part  of 
the  town.  Once  or  twice  he  heard  the  laughter  of  ladies 
from  the  lawn,  but  fence  and  hedge  interfered  with  sight 
if  they  offered  no  barrier  to  sound,  and  the  young  man 
hurried  on  with  the  guilty  feeling  of  one  caught  eaves- 
dropping. 

The  route,  however,  took  him  past  McGill  College,  and 
being  so  recently  from  a  much  less  celebrated  seat  of 
learning,  it  occurred  to  him  that  he  might  do  worse  than 
explore  the  university  grounds.  As  one  thing  leads  to 
another,  this  visit  resulted  in  his  acquaintance  with  a 
young  provincial  land  surveyor,  who  gave  him  some 
private  lessons  in  the  use  of  the  theodolite,  and  elucidated 
a  few  of  the  problems  that  the  solid  Trautwine  had  pre- 
sented in  vain  to  his  comprehension.  The  spoken  word 
is  a  wonderful  solvent  where  dry  mathematics  are  con- 
cerned, and  thus  Jim  felt  that  he  was  not  wasting  his 
time.  There  was  no  news  from  New  York,  and  the  mys- 
terious stranger  had  not  yet  called  for  the  sealed  packet, 
which  the  young  man  kept  securely  in  his  inside  pocket. 
At  last,  finding  that  it  destroyed  the  contour  of  his 


238  The  Victors 

neatly  fitting  new  coat,  he  did  what  he  should  have  done 
when  he  arrived :  lodged  it  in  the  hotel  safe  and  took  a 
receipt. 

But  not  even  the  skill  of  the  tailor  sufficed  to  carry  Jim 
up  the  gravelled  drive  that  led  to  the  front  door  of  Sir 
Murray's  residence.  It  was  his  card  that  enacted  the 
well-known  role  of  the  last  straw,  breaking:  the  back  of 
his  diffidence.  The  arrival  of  the  cards  marked  a  turn- 
ing point  in  Jim's  career,  for  although  he  had  worn  many 
p  suit  of  clothes,  he  had  never  before  possessed  a  card. 
The  name  "  Mr.  James  Monro  "  took  on  a  new  and  im- 
portant significance  when  engraved  on  copper,  and  the 
result  was  all  the  most  critical  eye  could  desire  in  the 
symmetrical  swell  of  the  shading  and  the  delicate  tracery 
of  the  hair  lines. 

Luckily  it  was  not  until  he  rang  at  Sir  Murray  Hender- 
son's door  that  a  disquieting  doubt  regarding  the  proper 
use  of  visiting  cards  came  upon  him,  and  then  it  was  too 
late  to  retreat.  Should  he  give  the  card  to  the  servant 
who  answered  the  bell,  or  should  he  drop  it  into  the  basket, 
which  he  had  usually  seen  on  the  hall  racks  in  Stormboro 
houses?  Or  would  the  servant  place  it  on  the  tray,  or 
should  he  surreptitiously  put  it  there  when  he  was  leav- 
ing? Unfortunately,  Trautwine's  Practical  Surveying 
said  nothing  about  all  this. 

He  was  further  taken  aback  when  the  door  was  opened 
by  a  tall  footman  with  powdered  hair,  a  magnificent 
specimen  of  our  race.  To  him  he  handed  the  bit  of  paste- 
board, and  asked  for  Miss  Van  Ness.  He  hoped  the  foot- 
man would  know  what  to  do  with  the  card.  Jim  was  not 
sure  whether  he  wished  that  there  should  be  many  visitors 
or  that  Miss  Van  Ness  should  be  alone.  He  was  taken  to 
a  drawing-room,  and  Grace  Van  Ness  came  frankly  for- 
ward to  meet  him,  in  a  tea  gown  so  regal  that  Jim  for  a 
moment  could  hardly  believe  this  was  the  girl  he  met  in 
a  travelling  dress  and  gossamer  dust  cloak  somewhere  in 
the  wilds  of  Vermont.  There  were  seated  in  the  room  a 
motherly-looking  old  lady  with  gray  hair,  and  a  girl 
somewhat  younger  than  the  radiant  vision  who  now  held 
out  her  hand  to  him. 


"  I  have  a  bag  of  money  here  "          239 

"  I  am  so  glad  to  see  you,  Mr.  Monro,"  she  cried 
rather  breathlessly  and  with  heightening  colour.  "  Have 
you  been  long  in  Montreal?" 

"  Only  a  few  days,"  replied  the  young  man,  for  he 
learned  at  once  from  her  tone  and  accent  that  nothing  was 
to  be  said  of  the  briefness  of  their  acquaintance  or  the 
circumstances  in  which  it  had  been  formed.  His  answer 
brought  nim  a  quick,  grateful  look  from  the  girl  which 
thanked  him  for  his  alertness  of  mind,  although  it  was 
scarcely  flattering  to  him  that  this  speedy  comprehension 
was  evidently  unexpected. 

"  Mother,  let  me  introduce  to  you  a  friend  from  New 
York.  Mr.  Monro,  Lady  Henderson;  Miss  Henderson." 

And  so  there  was  Jim,  marvelling  at  his  own  bravery, 
seated  with  the  ladies  while  tea  was  brought  in,  the  world 
apparently  going  on  much  as  usual. 

"  When  did  you  arrive  ?  "  asked  Lady  Henderson. 

"  On  Thursday  night  of  last  week." 

"  Ah,  then,  you  took  the  day  train  from  New  York.  I 
think  it  a  most  picturesque  ride  through  the  mountains 
and  by  the  rivers  and  lakes." 

"  Yes,  madam,  the  scenery  is  certainly  very  beautiful." 

"  I  don't  like  night  travelling  myself,  although  my  hus- 
band will  never  travel  in  the  daytime  if  he  can  help  it. 
We  are  Jack  Sprat  and  his  wife  as  far  as  railway  travel 
is  concerned.  Men  seem  to  think  it  such  a  waste  of  time 
to  be  on  a  train  unless  they  are  asleep,  and  to  accomplish 
three  hundred  miles  while  enjoying  a  good  night's  rest 
appears  to  a  business  man  like  filching  just  so  much  from 
existence  that  otherwise  would  be  wasted." 

"  The  invention  of  the  sleeping  car  undoubtedly  has 
lengthened  the  life  of  the  business  man,"  assented  Jim. 

"  I'm  not  so  sure  that  life  is  lengthened  by  all  our 
modern  improvements,"  continued  the  old  lady.  "  By  and 
by,  if  they  keep  on,  I  think  they  will  abolish  sleep  alto- 
gether in  this  rushing,  hurrying  country.  I  never  get 
much  rest  when  travelling;  I  like  my  own  home  and  my 
own  room.  With  young  people  it  is  different.  Grace — 
Miss  Van  Ness — here,  slept  serenely  through  a  railway 
accident  the  other  night  and  knew  nothing  of  it  until  the 
morning.  Tell  Mr.  Monro  about  your  adventure,  Grace." 


240  The  Victors 

"  Indeed,  mother,  I'm  tired  of  telling-  about  it.  I'll 
pour  out  the  tea — I  promised  Mr.  Monro  tea  if  he  called 
upon  me  here — and  besides,  you  tell  the  story  ever  so 
much  better  than  I  do." 

And  with  this  Grace  Van  Ness  devoted  her  attention  to 
the  tea,  which  the  servant  had  brought  silently  in  on  a 
broad  silver  tray.  Lady  Henderson  went  placidly  on  with 
her  gentle  conversation,  relating  the  incident  of  the  palace 
car,  an  Adamless  Eden,  as  she  told  of  it,  while  Jim,  with 
a  craft  hitherto  unsuspected  in  himself,  made  various 
surprised  comments  as  the  tale  continued,  and  caught 
once  or  twice  a  sly,  amused  glance  from  the  heroine  of  the 
story  as  she  bent  over  the  teacups.  Now  and  then  Jim 
found  himself  wondering  at  his  own  self-composure  dur- 
ing this  very  pleasant  visit.  How  friendly  and  nice  these 
quiet  people  were.  How  smoothly  he  had  run  along  the 
groove  in  this  social  world,  the  entrance  to  which  he  had 
dreaded  with  such  unnecessary  fear. 

Several  people,  mostly  ladies,  came  in  during  his  stay, 
and  so  he  had  an  opportunity  of  a  few  words  with  Grace 
Van  Ness  before  he  left. 

"  I  may  not  see  you  again  in  Montreal,"  she  said  to  him, 
"  unless  you  happen  to  be  at  the  summit  of  the  mountain 
to-morrow  at  eleven  o'clock.  Gussie  and  I  are  going  to 
drive  up  there.  Next  day  we  leave  for  Quebec  and  the 
Saguenay.  Have  you  ever  been  on  the  mountain?" 

"  Oh,  I  know  the  mountain  well.  I've  been  surveying 
it  these  last  few  days." 

"  Surveying  it?" 

"  Yes.  While  waiting  in  Montreal  for  an  indefinite 
time  I've  been  taking  lessons  in  civil  engineering,  and  the 
mountain  has  been  my  stamping  ground.  Thus,  you  see, 
I  am  acquiring  knowledge  and  enjoying  scenery  at  the 
same  time." 

"  You  remind  me  of  my  father  when  he  was  a  young 
man.  He  began  his  career  as  a  civil  engineer,  running 
the  line  of  a  new  railway.  I  shall  not  say  good-bye  to  you 
now,  as  I  may  see  you  on  the  mountain  top  to-morrow." 

Monro  walked  back  to  his  hotel,  upheld  by  a  feeling 
of  elation  hardly  to  be  accounted  for  by  his  successful 


"  I  have  a  bag  of  money  here  "          241 

emergence  from  an  alarming  social  encounter.  It  was 
nearly  seven  o'clock  when  he  reached  the  hostelry,  and 
there  he  found  a  surprise  awaiting  him,  the  surprise  at 
that  moment  pacing  impatiently  up  and  down  the  hotel 
lobby. 

"  Why,  Ben,"  he  shouted,  "  where  did  you  spring 
from?"" 

"  Hallo,  Jim !  You  are  a  fine  faithful  young  man,  I 
must  say!  Do  you  call  this  attending  to  duty?  Here 
am  I  waiting  for  you,  watching  the  clock  hour  by  hour, 
while  you  are  missing,  and  no  one  in  the  office  knows 
what  has  become  of  you." 

"  I  have  been  taking  a  lesson  in  civil  engineering,"  said 
Jim,  with  more  of  awkwardness  in  his  manner  than  the 
learning  of  this  useful  profession  accounted  for.  "  What 
are  you  doing  here  ?  " 

"Doing?  Well,  it's  lucky  for  you  that  some  other 
fellow  wasn't  sent.  I've  to  leave  for  Toronto  to-night, 
and  you  must  return  to  New  York,  so  we've  got  to  be  a 
bit  lively.  Glassthrop  &  Co.  have  sent  me  for  that  ten 
thousand  dollars  you  are  concealing  about  your  clothes, 
and  I  am  to  take  it  to  Toronto.  And,  talking  about 
clothes,  what's  come  over  you,  Jim  ?  Why  this  grandeur  ? 
Buttonhole  bouquet  and  all.  Well,  I'm  blowed!  You 
civil-engineer  in  style  out  here." 

Ben  walked  slowly  round  his  friend,  pretending  to 
admire  him  from  the  various  points  of  the  compass. 

"  So  you  are  getting  five  dollars  a  day,  too,  I  imagine, 
with  a  payment  in  advance.  Say,  Jim,  you  are  simply 
gorgeous.' 

"  All  right,  Ben ;  suppose  you  stop  fooling  and  give  up 
attracting  the  attention  of  all  in  the  hotel.  Come  to  my 
room  and  practice  your  antics  there." 

"  My  antics !  It's  your  clothes  that's  attracting  atten- 
tion. Well,  as  we've  got  to  hurry,  lead  on  to  your  room.'' 

Once  there  Jim  spoke. 

"What  do  they  mean  by  sending  you  here?  Why 
couldn't  they  have  telegraphed  me  to  go  to  Toronto?  " 

"  Give  it  up,  Jim.  I  didn't  ask  any  questions.  Was 
glad  enough  to  find  they  valued  my  services  at  five  dollars 
16 


242  The  Victors 

a  day.  Say,  Jim,  we  seem  to  have  struck  it  rich.  Hope 
it  will  last,  that's  all,  and  so  I  advise  you  to  adhere  strictly 
to  instructions  and  not  pay  too  close  attention  to  such 
outside  matters  as  civil  engineering.  Glassthrop  told  me  I 
should  find  you  waitingat  this  tavern." 

"  Civil  engineering  is  part  of  Glassthrop  s  instructions. 
However,  you  can  have  the  money  in  five  minutes.  It's 
down  in  the  safe.  Where's  your  order  ?  " 

"  Here  you  are." 

Jim  took  the  scrawl  that  was  handed  to  him.  It  was 
written  on  a  sheet  with  the  letter  head  of  the  Broadway 
firm. 

"  Please  deliver  to  bearer  the  sealed  packet  in  your 
possession  and  return  immediately  to  New  York. 

JAMES  GLASSTHROP." 

"  Say,  Ben,  what's  the  matter  with  this  man  ?  " 

"  Nothing,  as  far  as  I  can  see,  except  that  his  means  of 
locomotion  are  slightly  defective.  His  brain  seemed  all 
right.  Why  do  you  ask  ?  " 

"  Is  this  the  only  order  he  gave  you  ?  " 

"  Yes.     Isn't  it  plain  enough  ?  " 

"  There  is  nothing  here  about  ten  thousand  dollars." 

"  No.  He  told  me  that  was  the  amount  in  the  pack- 
age. I  suppose  he  did  not  mention  it  in  writing,  fearing 
I  might  lose  the  order,  and  that's  why  he  didn't  put  in 
your  Montreal  address.  Gave  me  that  by  word  of  mouth. 
He's  a  shrewd  man." 

Monro's  brow  wrinkled  in  perplexity  as  he  scrutinised 
the  paper. 

"  Time  is  flying,  Jim,"  said  McAllister. 

"  Well,  you  know,  I  don't  understand  those  New  York 
people.  Glassthrop  gave  me  a  torn  piece  of  paper,  and 
told  me  to  deliver  the  packet  to  the  man  who  presented  the 
other  half.  Did  he  give  you  the  half  of  a  torn  sheet?  " 

"  No.     Said  nothing  about  it." 

"  I  can't  give  up  the  money  on  this.  Obey  orders,  if 
you  break  owners.  Ben,  I  believe  they  are  playing  with 
us.  I  don't  like  it." 


"  I  have  a  bag  of  money  here  "          243 

"  Let  'em  play.  If  they're  willing  to  fork  over  five 
good  dollars  every  day  to  each  of  us  for  the  fun  of  it,  let 
'em  play,  say  I.  Well,  what  are  you  going  to  do?  " 

"  I  shall  telegraph  Glassthrop  and  ask  if  he  annuls 
former  instructions.  I  wouldn't  part  with  the  packet  to 
Mitchell  himself  without  the  other  half  of  the  document 
in  my  possession." 

"  But  then  you  make  me  disobey  my  instructions.  I 
was  to  leave  for  Toronto  on  the  night  train,  while  you 
have  a  written  order  to  proceed  to  New  York  at  once.  It 
seems  to  me  merely  a  choice  of  which  command  you  will 
disobey ;  they're  both  from  the  same  man." 

"  I  can't  help  that.  I'll  do  exactly  what  I  was  told  to 
do.  If  anything  wrong  happens  it  isn't  my  fault." 

"  But  your  telegraphic  order  won't  be  any  better  than 
this  one ;  in  fact,  it  won't  be  as  good,  for  this  is  written 
by  his  own  hand." 

"  I  won't  ask  a  telegraphic  order.  He  must  send 
on  the  other  half  of  my  release  slip,  or  I'll  not  give  up  the 
packet  to  any  one." 

"  But  that  will  keep  us  a  day  or  more  in  Montreal,  and 
may  upset  all  his  plans." 

"  I  can't  help  that.    That's  Glassthrop's  lookout." 

Nothing  Ben  said  could  move  Jim  from  this  resolve, 
and  they  went  together  to  a  telegraph  office,  relinquish- 
ing all  thought  of  trains  for  that  night. 

"  He  won't  get  the  message  until  to-morrow,"  grumbled 
Ben,  "  and  then  I'll  bet  you'll  get  a  red-hot  answer  over 
the  wires.'' 

"  Nothing  that  he  can  telegraph  will  make  me  take  that 
packet  from  the  safe.  He  must  send  on  that  torn  slip, 
and  if  he  doesn't  like  that  he  can  get  some  one  else  to 
be  his  messenger  boy  next  time."  , 

In  the  morning  no  telegram  was  likely  to  arrive  before 
eleven,  so  after  breakfasting  together  the  two  young 
men  strolled  along  in  the  streets,  Monro  seeming  a  little 
nervous,  as  if  the  coming  message  cast  its  shadow  before. 

"  I  shouldn't  worry  about  it,  Jim,"  said  Ben  suddenly. 

"  Worry  about  what  ?  "  the  other  asked  in  surprise. 

"  About  anything  Glassthrop  may  say,  for,  after  all, 
you  acted  just  right." 


244  The  Victors 

"  Oh,  that.     I  had  almost  forgotten  about  it." 

"  Well,  what's  on  your  mind  ?  " 

"  Nothing  very  much,  but  if  I've  got  to  leave  Montreal 
so  suddenly,  I  ought  to  let  Palmer  know." 

"Who's  Palmer?" 

"  A  provincial  land  surveyor,  as  they  call  them  here. 
He  has  been  giving  me  instruction  on  the  use  of  mathe- 
matical instruments.  He'll  be  waiting  for  me  on  the 
mountain." 

"  All  right ;  let's  go  and  see  him." 

"  I  was  thinking  of  doing  that.  You  wouldn't  mind 
waiting1  at  the  hotel  in  case  a  telegram  should  arrive. 
If  it  should  come,  open  it  and  see  what  Glassthrop  has  to 
say  for  himself." 

"  My  dear  boy,  I've  nothing  to  do  with  the  telegram  ; 
it's  for  you.  Besides,  we  can't  get  out  of  this  town  until 
to-night  anyhow,  so  it  doesn't  matter.  I'll  go  with  you. 
I'll  leave  you  and  Palmer  together  and  climb  to  the  top 
of  the  mountain.  I  want  to  see  the  view." 

"  Oh,  the  view  doesn't  amount  to  anything." 

"  Doesn't  it  ?  I  should  have  thought  it  would  be  fine ; 
city,  river  and  country." 

"  It's  rather  disappointing,  and  the  hill  is  very  hard  to 
climb.  Besides,  I  would  like  one  of  us  to  be  here  when 
the  telegram  comes." 

"  Very  well,  Jim.  I  don't  mind ;  I'll  wait.  You  meet 
your  surveyor,  whatever  his  name  is,  and  get  back  as 
soon  as  you  can." 

So  Monro  hurried  to  see  his  surveyor,  as  he  had  quite 
truthfully  expressed  a  desire  to  do,  and  after  an  exceed- 
ingly brief  conference  proceeded  to  the  top  of  the  moun- 
tain to  look  once  more  upon  that  really  amazing  view 
which,  so  short  a  time  before,  he  had  professed  to  under- 
rate, but  which,  nevertheless,  is  w-ell  worth  crossing  a  con- 
tinent to  behold.  He  reached  the  summit  about  eleven,  but 
it  was  nearly  twelve  before  a  carriage  arrived,  from  which 
two  young  ladies  descended  and  greeted  him.  Miss 
Henderson  seemed  surprised  to  find  him  there,  and 
thought  the  chance  meeting  very  lucky,  for  they  were 
going  away  the  next  day.  The  conversation  of  three  is 


"  I  have  a  bag  of  money  here  "          245 

rarely  worth  recording,  as  the  ancient  adage  intimates, 
and  so  it  shall  not  be  set  down  here.  The  three  walked 
up  and  down  while  Gussie  pointed  out  this  place  and  that, 
naming  villages  in  the  country  and  prominent  buildings  in 
the  town.  When  Jim  escorted  them  to  the  waiting  car- 
riage, Gussie  proffered  the  hospitalities  of  the  vehicle,  but 
he  declined,  giving  the  excuse  that  he  had  come  out  for 
a  walk.  He  had  come  up  the  road  and  wished  to 
descend  by  a  more  direct  route,  which  appeared  to  indi- 
cate that  it  was  the  scenery  he  came  out  to  enjoy  after 
all. 

He  watched  the  carriage  disappear,  then  turned  to  go 
down  the  hill,  when  a  hand  fell  on  his  shoulder. 

"  A  most  charmingly  nice  girl,  Jimmy.  I  would  have 
come  forward  and  begged  an  introduction,  but  I  was 
afraid  you  might  not  like  the  intrusion  of  a  poor  rela- 
tion." 

"  What  are  you  doing  up  here  ?  I  thought  you  were  to 
wait." 

"  All  things  come  to  him  who  waits,  Jimmy,  my  boy, 
so  the  telegram  came  before  I  had  waited  ten  minutes ; 
then,  knowing  you  would  be  anxious  to  read  it  as  soon  as 
possible,  I  climbed  the  mountain  high,  high,  high,  as  the 
poem  has  it." 

"  How  did  you  know  I  was  here  ?  " 

"Oh,  that  was  easy.  You  are  an  awkward  liar,  Jimmy." 

"  I  didn't  lie.    I  went  to  see  the  surveyor." 

"  Certainly.  But  you  said  this  view  wasn't  worth  see- 
ing, which  was  a  whopper,  and  your  anxiety  that  I  should 
not  injure  myself  by  climbing  this  knoll  made  me  resolve 
at  once  to  come  up  and  see  the  girl.  Who  is  she,  Jimmy  ?  " 

"  Did  you  bring  the  telegram?  " 

;'Yes.    What's  her  name?" 

"  Miss  Augusta  Henderson,  daughter  of  a  prominent 
Canadian  railway  man.  Let  me  see  what  Glassthrop  has 
to  say  for  himself." 

"  I  am  more  anxious  to  know  what  Monro  has  to  say 
for  himself.  Which  was  Miss  Henderson,  the  girl  with 
the  red  hair  or  the  blonde  ?  " 

"  Ben,  you're  a  fool.     Her  hair  isn't  red,  it's  bronze." 


246  The  Victors 

"What's  her  name?" 

"  How  do  you  know  it  isn't  Miss  Henderson  ?  " 

"  Because  you  were  sure  to  mention  first  the  girl  you 
were  not  interested  in." 

"  I'm  interested  in  both  of  them." 

"And  also  because  you  sprang  so  quickly  to  the  defence 
of  your  colours,  if  I  may  call  them  so.  Who  is  she, 
Jimmy  ?  " 

"  The  young  lady  with  the  bronze  hair — you  won't 
mind  my  insistence  on  that  description  as  correct — is 
Miss  Van  Ness,  of  New  York,  with  whom  I  chanced  to 
become  acquainted  while  approaching  Montreal.  Now, 
is  your  insatiable  curiosity  satisfied?  I  suppose  I  may 
again  request  a  sight  of  my  own  telegram,  unless  you 
have  more  questions  to  ask." 

"  Lots  of  'em,  Jim,  but  this  will  do  for  the  moment,  and 
here's  your  telegram." 

Monro  read  the  message,  which  was  not  red  hot,  as 
McAllister  had  predicted.  It  ran : 

"  My  mistake.  Bring  package  to  New  York.  Tell 
McAllister  to  come  with  you.  GLASSTHROP." 

"  Say,  Ben,  what  do  you  make  of  it  all?  " 

"  About  the  girls  ?  Oh,  that's  easy.  I  saw  at  a 
glance — " 

"  Pardon  me,  Ben,  I  am  serious.  Are  those  people  in 
New  York  crazy  or  what?  There's  nothing  businesslike 
about  their  actions  from  first  to  last.  They  send  me  here 
with  ten  thousand  dollars  in  a  mysteriously  sealed  pack- 
age, which  is  something  no  man  would  do  unless  he  were 
engaged  in  underhand  traffic  that  made  the  use  of  banks 
or  express  companies  unavailable ;  then  they  send  you 
with  a  bogus  order  for  the  money." 

"  Do  you  think  there  is  ten  thousand  dollars  in  the 
bundle?" 

"  I  am  reasonably  sure  of  it.  Glassthrop  made  me 
count  the  bills,  and  I  saw  him  place  the  money  in  the 
envelope  and  seal  it.  Of  course,  he  might  have  done  some 
sleight-of-hand  jugglery,  and  there  may  be  nothing  o£ 


"  I  have  a  bag  of  money  here  "          247 

value  in  the  package,  but  that  would  be  even  sillier  than 
the  other." 

The  two  young  men  were  walking  down  the  leafy 
path,  a  way  rather  steep  for  conversation,  and  it  was 
some  moments  before  McAllister  replied.  At  last  he 
said: 

"  I  was  thinking  about  it  all  the  way  up,  and  I've  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  Glassthrop  knows  his  way  about. 
T  doubt  if  there's  a  single  dollar  bill  in  that  sealed 
wallet." 

"  I  can  open  it  and  see." 

"  If  you  do,  Jimmy,  you'll  deserve  the  name  of  fool  that 
you  so  unjustly  applied  to  me  awhile  since — one  of  the 
many  unresented  insults  my  good  nature  has  stood  from 
you.  Let's  go  back  a  bit  and  reason  this  out.  Reason  is 
my  strong  point,  you  know.  You  will  remember  that  our 
conversation  with  Mitchell  turned  on  the  question  of 
honesty.  I  claimed  that  we  were  honest  young  men,  and 
he  rather  sneered  at  the  honest  man ;  didn't  believe  he 
existed ;  placed  small  value  on  him  if  he  did  exist.  Very 
well.  Righteous  indignation  on  my  part,  a  cold,  critical 
glance  from  you,  which  seemed  to  hint  that  my  enthu- 
siasm was  carrying  me  away,  and  a  shrewd  studying  of 
us  both  on  the  part  of  Mitchell.  Do  you  follow  me  ?  " 

"  Perfectly.  Everything  you  say  is  quite  right.  Go 
on." 

"  Very  well.  Mitchell  is  the  kind  of  worldy  wise  man 
who,  if  he  wants  a  thing,  pretends  he  doesn't  want  it.  For 
some  scheme  or  other  the  firm  of  Glassthrop  is  in  need  of 
one  or  two  honest  men,  yet  men  who  have  their  wits 
about  them,  and  who  will  obey  orders  to  the  very  letter 
against  friend  or  foe.  Mitchell  writes  to  Glassthrop  that 
he  thinks  he  has  hit  on  the  men,  but  he  leaves  the  re- 
sponsibility of  testing  that  point  to  his  very  brainy  friend 
and  chief." 

"  How  do  you  know  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know ;  I  surmise.  He  warned  us  that  he  guar- 
anteed nothing;  we  were  to  expect  nothing;  we  went  at 
our  own  risk." 

"  But  he  gave  us  the  money." 


248  The  Victors 

"  Yes,  because  we  hadn't  any,  and  so  could  not  get 
through  to  New  York;  but  he  distinctly  stated  that  the 
money  was  paid  for  service  rendered,  and  not  on  account 
of  salary.  So  far,  so  good.  Mr.  Glassthrop  ostenta- 
tiously requests  you  to  count  ten  thousand  dollars  in  bills, 
and  apparently  he  sends  them  with  you  to  Canada — to 
Canada !  Surely  you  see  what  that  means.  The  moment 
you  cross  the  boundary  line  that  money  is  yours,  if  you 
like  to  take  it.  They  can't  bring  you  back — in  fact,  you 
need  never  have  left  New  York.  He  has  not  a  scrap  of 
writing  to  show  the  money  is  his  instead  of  yours." 

"  Rather  an  expensive  way  of  testing  a  man's  honesty, 
don't  you  think?  " 

"  No.  Because  there  isn't  any  real  money  in  your  en- 
velope. He  didn't  need  to  risk  a  cent.  You  hand  him  that 
package,  with  the  seals  untouched,  and  Glassthrop  will 
believe  you  are  honest,  up  to  ten  thousand  dollars  at 
least.  You  tamper  with  the  wax,  and  all  your  protesta- 
tions would  never  convince  him  that  you  hadn't  opened 
the  parcel  and  found  it  worthless." 

"  By  Jove,  Ben,  I  believe  you  are  right !  " 

"  Of  course  I'm  right.  Then  there  comes  in  our 
cynical  friend  Mitchell's  assertion  that  if  a  man's  honest 
he  is  a  fool.  Glassthrop  tests  that,  too.  He  sends  me 
up  here  with  this  order  which  you  refuse  to  honour. 
You  practically  say  to  him :  '  My  son,  if  you  want  to 
play  the  game,  you  must  stick  to  the  rules.'  Then  Mr. 
Glassthrop  answers:  '  Come  back  to  New  York,  boys, and 
we'll  call  it  square.'  If  you  hand  him  that  package  to- 
morrow morning  with  the  seals  untouched  we're  in 
clover." 

"  Well,  Ben,  I've  simply  let  you  talk  on  without  much 
interruption,  but  you've  corroborated  my  own  suspicions 
of  the  last  few  days." 

"  Now,  Jimmy,  come  off !  You  can't  steal  my  thunder 
in  that  barefaced  way.  You  hadn't  the  remotest  notion 
that  we  were  being  played  till  I  told  you." 

"  Up  to  a  point  I  had,  although  I  confess  the  bogus 
order  business  did  not  strike  me  in  the  way  you  put  it.  I 
thought  they  wanted  you  to  take  charge  of  the  package  for 


"  I  have  a  bag  of  money  here"          249 

a  while,  knowing  there  was  alleged  to  be  ten  thousand 
dollars  in  it,  and  that  Glassthrop  had  forgotten  about  the 
torn  paper.  But  to  show  you  that  we  think  alike  in  this, 
you  write  down  what  you  imagine  we  are  to  do  when  we 
get  back  to  New  York.  I'll  do  the  same,  and  we'll  ex- 
change papers." 

Each  took  out  notebook  and  pencil,  and  scribbled  for 
a  few  moments,  then  each  handed  his  book  to  the  other. 
Jim  had  written : 

"  They  will  ask  us  to  take  part  in  some  shady  transac- 
tion, which  on  the  surface  will  appear  honest.  We  shall 
have  to  keep  our  mouths  shut,  and  there  will  be  a  large 
sum  of  money  at  our  disposal,  which,  nevertheless,  we 
are  not  to  draw  upon,  and  somebody's  going  to  get 
swindled  by  the  time  our  job's  done." 

Ben's   version   was   more   terse: 

"  We  shall  have  to  tackle  some  enterprise  in  which 
they  won't  appear.  This  will  involve  the  spending  of 
money  that  they  want  to  be  sure  we'll  spend  honestly,  for, 
being  engaged  in  some  rascality,  they  have  no  redress  if 
we  default.  They  will  pay  us  well,  and  if  we  do  all  that 
is  expected  of  us  will  likely  land  ourselves  in  jail." 

Both  young  men  laughed,  and  Ben  said : 

"  Well,  Jimmy,  we  don't  seem  to  have  a  very  high 
opinion  of  our  employers.  However,  I  guess  you  saw 
farther  through  this  affair  than  I  gave  you  credit  for." 


CHAPTER   VII 

"  MY  SURVEYOR  IS  FALSE  " 

IT  was  early  in  the  morning  when  the  two  friends 
reached  New  York.  They  breakfasted  at  their  leisure,  for 
they  knew  they  could  not  see  Mr.  Glassthrop  at  his  office 
before  ten.  When  shown  into  the  gymnastic  room  they 
found  Mr.  Mitchell  seated  at  one  of  the  desks,  assorting 
papers.  The  open  satchel  at  his  side,  with  various  docu- 
ments in  bunches,  held  together  by  rubber  bands,  be- 
tokened the  travelled  man  of  the  firm  pausing  in  his 
flight. 

"  Good-morning,  gentlemen,"  he  said  brusquely. 
'  Just  in  from  somewhere  ?  " 

"  Good-morning,  Mr.  Mitchell,"  returned  Monro. 
'  Yes,  we  came  from  Montreal  last  night." 

"  I'm  from  the  South,  myself.  If  you  want  a  desk, 
they've  a  key  in  the  outer  office  for  that  one  in  the  corner." 

"  Thanks,  we  don't  want  a  desk.  We  are  here  merely 
to  receive  orders." 

"  All  right.  You'll  excuse  my  going  on  with  this  work. 
I  expect  Glassthrop  every  moment." 

Promptly  at  ten  o'clock  the  outer  door  opened  and  Mr. 
Glassthrop  was  carried  in  and  seated  as  usual  on  a  chair ; 
his  man  threw  open  the  roller  lid  of  his  desk  and  retired. 

"  Ah,  Mitchell,  good  morning.  I  take  it  from  your 
telegram  you  put  that  through  all  right  ?  " 

"Yes,  sir.  Without  a  hitch;  without  a  suspicion  even 
— of  a  hitch,"  he  added,  as  if  in  after  thought." 

"  No  money  spent  ?  " 

"  Not  a  cent." 

"  Well,  that  is  marvellous.  Mitchell,  you  are  a  cham- 
pion. You  deserve  a  monument.  I'll  put  one  up  for  you, 

John,  and  inscribe  it  in  honour  of  the  man  who  got  a  bill 
250 


"  My  surveyor  is  false  "  251 

through  the  legislature  of  an  American  state  without 
bribing  anybody." 

Mitchell  made  no  reply,  but  coughed  significantly,  as 
if  warning  his  partner  that  they  were  not  alone.  Glass- 
throp,  however,  seemed  a  law  unto  himself.  He  paid  no 
heed  to  the  hint. 

"Has  the  governor  signed  it?" 

"  Oh,  yes.  I  wasn't  going  to  leave  till  I  had  his  signa- 
ture." 

"  Then  they  can't  go  back  on  it  in  any  way  ?  " 

"  No  way  that  I  know  of." 

"  What's  the  matter  with  beginning  right  at  once, 
then?" 

"  I  see  no  reason  why  we  shouldn't." 

"  Well,  young  men,  how  did  you  find  Canada?  Didn't 
get  your  toes  frozen,  eh  ?  I'd  be  safe  from  that,  wouldn't 
I?  You've  brought  back  the  money  all  safe." 

"  Yes,  sir;  here  it  is."  •  *-• 

Glassthrop  laughed  as  he  took  the  packet. 

"  By  jingo!  I  thought  as  I  came  up  this  morning  that 
you'd  refuse  to  give  it  to  me  unless  I  produced  the  other 
half  of  that  sheet  of  paper.  Hang  me  if  I  didn't.  I 
telegraphed  you  that  it  was  my  mistake,  but  it  wasn't 
really.  The  man  who  has  the  other  half  of  your  slip  mis- 
took his  directions  altogether  and  was  waiting  for  you 
at  Toronto,  searching  the  hotels  there.  However,  it  is  all 
right.  I  sent  him  the  money  in  time." 

As  he  rattled  on  he  turned  the  packet  over  and  over, 
keeping  a  keen  eye  on  it ;  then,  to  carry  out  the  farce  to 
its  extreme,  he  swung  himself  round  the  room  on  his 
aerial  wheel,  dropped  down  beside  the  safe,  opened  it  and 
carefully  placed  the  packet  in  one  of  its  recesses,  as  if  it 
were  as  valuable  as  it  was  alleged  to  be.  Mitcnell  did  not 
look  up,  but  kept  on  at  his  assorting,  unheeding  the  man 
whose  body  twice  passed  over  his  head  in  its  flight. 

"  Did  you  bring  back  the  book  I  gave  you  also?  "  asked 
the  chief,  once  more  returned  to  the  polished  deck  of  his 
desk. 

"Yes,  sir." 

"Look  into  it  at  all?" 


252  The  Victors 

"Yes,  sir." 

"  Find  it  tough  reading?  " 

"  No ;  I  got  along  very  well  with  it.  I  must  admit, 
however,  that,  having  nothing  else  to  do  in  Montreal,  I 
took  lessons  in  civil  engineering  from  a  professional  sur- 
veyor. That  helped  me  a  good  deal  with  the  book,  and 
taught  me  the  practical  use  of  the  instruments." 

"  Good  man !  "  cried  Glassthrop,  bringing  down  his 
fist  with  a  crash  on  the  desk.  "  Do  you  hear  that,  John  ? 
He  took  lessons  from  a  practical  engineer." 

"  Excellent  idea,"  said  Mitchell,  without  looking  up. 

"  Oh,  you'll  get  along  in  this  wicked  world,"  continued 
Glassthrop.  "  Now,  Mitchell,  can  you  give  us  a  minute 
or  two  ?  Where's  that  map  of  North  Carolina  ?  " 

Mitchell  rose,  took  a  roll  which  stood  against  the  wall 
in  a  corner,  hung  it  up,  thus  displaying  a  gaudily  col- 
oured map  of  the  state  mentioned,  the  railways  network- 
ing it  in  great  black  ones. 

"Where's  Pillageville  ?  " 

Mitchell  pointed  out  the  place, 

"  Just  stick  a  brass-headed  tack  there,  and  another  at 
the  terminus." 

Mitchell  placed  the  two  tacks  in  position  and  backed 
away  from  the  map. 

"  Now,  young  men,  these  two  tacks  are  fifty-one  miles 
apart,  although  they  don't  look  it.  The  lower  one  is  on 
the  main  line  of  the  F.  A.  &  C.  railway,  and  the  other  is 
on  the  West  Central  system.  We  propose  to  connect 
the  two  places  with  a  single-track  road.  As  these  are 
competing  organisations,  at  deadly  feud  with  each  other, 
inquisitive  people  will  want  to  know  where  we  are  going 
to  get  our  traffic,  because  one  road  won't  give  business 
that's  going  to  feed  the  other,  and  the  country  through 
which  our  line  will  run  is  mostly  uninhabited.  If  such 
inquisitive  people  should  ask  you  where  our  freight  is 
coming  from,  what  will  be  your  answer  ?  " 
.  "  My  answer  would  be  that  I  don't  know,"  said  Monro 
promptly. 

"  Exactly.  That's  the  right  answer.  I  want  to  im- 
press upon  you  that  you  don't  know  anything  about  the 


"  My  surveyor  is  false  "  253 

Pillageville  &  Boontown  branch;  you  don't  know  who's 
building  it;  you  don't  know  anything  about  it.  Do  you 
understand  that  t " 

"  Perfectly." 

"  You  are  willing  to  keep  your  ears  open  and  your 
mouths  shut — both  of  you  ?  " 

"Yes,  sir." 

"  They  will  perhaps  attempt  to  bribe  you.  The  curi- 
osity of  this  world  is  deplorable.  I  am  sending  you  there, 
expecting  you  to  be  offered  more  money  than  we  pay 
you,  to  tell  what  you  clo  know,  and  yet  I  am  confident 
you  won't  take  the  money  nor  tell." 

"  I  give  you  my  word  we  won't,"  said  Monro. 

"  And  I  also,"  added  McAllister. 

"  That's  all  right.  There  will  be  placed  in  the  First 
National  Bank  of  Pillageville  a  certain  sum  of  money 
which  you  can  draw  upon,  both  your  signatures  being 
necessary  on  each  check.  You  will  draw  your  own  sal- 
aries each  week  at  forty  dollars  a  week — I  raise  you  from 
the  original  five  dollars  a  day — and  you  will  draw  for 
whatever  expenses  you  are  put  to,  buggy  hire,  men,  etc., 
but  I  ask  you  not  to  inquire  how  much  money  is  at  your 
disposal,  for  that's  one  of  the  things  I  wish  you  to  be  able 
to  say  you  don't  know.  Is  that  understood  and  agreed 
to?" 

"  Yes,  sir ;  but  what  are  we  to  do?  " 

"  I'm  coming  to  that.  You'll  go  to  Robinson,  who 
runs  the  planing  mill  at  Pillageville,  with  a  letter  I  will 
give  you  for  him.  He  will  identify  you  at  the  bank,  where 
you  will  register  your  signatures.  Now,  what  you  are  to 
do  is  this.  You  are  to  run  a  line  from  one  tack  to  the 
other,  as  straight  as  may  be.  You  will  begin  at  Robin- 
son's planing  mill  and  strike  northwest  for  the  Boontown 
Notch  in  the  mountains,  then  through  the  Notch  to  Boon- 
town.  It  wouldn't  be  a  bad  plan  to  walk  or  ride  from 
Pillageville  to  Boontown  before  you  begin  your  survey- 
ing, so  that  you  can  form  some  idea  of  the  nature  of  the 
country.  See  what  I  mean  ?  " 

"  Run  a  line  ?    What  sort  of  a  line  ?  " 

"  You   are   to   make   the   preliminary   survey   for   a 


254  The  Victors 

railway.  You  are  to  plant  stakes  a  hundred  feet  apart 
or  a  thousand  feet  apart — I  don't  pretend  to  under- 
stand these  particulars ;  what  does  Trautwine  say  the 
distance  should  be?  Don't  know?  Well,  it  doesn't 
matter;  you'll  find  out  all  about  that.  Anyhow, 
you  will  hire  some  cheap  man  with  an  axe  who  will  make 
oak  staves  and  drive  'em  in  for  you.  Perhaps  two  men 
with  two  axes,  but  get  whatever  help  is  necessary.  Very 
well,  you  will  work  this  telescope  on  the  swivel  and  tell 
the  men  where  to  drive  the  stakes.  Your  friend  here  can 
hold  upright  the  tall  pole  marked  off  in  lengths  and,  as 
I  understand  it,  you  sight  on  that,  making  signs  right  and 
left  with  your  hands,  and  then  when  the  tall  pole  is  in  its 
exact  position  your  man  drives  in  a  stake  and  numbers 
it  with  red  chalk.  It  is  an  easy  and  pleasant  occupation, 
and  healthful,  I  should  say.  Didn't  your  civil  engineer 
at  Montreal'  post  you  up  on  this  sort  of  thing  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  understand  that  all  right.  Then  I  suppose 
I  am  to  keep  a  note-book  and  mark  out  the  levels  ?  Am 
I  to  stake  out  the  excavations  and  embankments,  or  only 
run  the  line  of  centre  stakes  ?  " 

"  Well,  you  can  take  rough  notes  of  the  difficulties  to 
be  met  with  in  construction,  the  bridges  to  be  built,  the 
deep  cuttings  to  be  made,  and  that  sort  of  thing,  but  at 
present  we  only  need  the  one  line  of  stakes.  As  I  said, 
this  is  merely  the  first  rough  survey.  When  the  con- 
struction survey  is  made,  of  course  I  shall  have  to  employ 
thoroughly  qualified  engineers,  who  will  get  everything 
as  accurate  as  a  chronometer;  but  you  understand  my 
present  object,  although,  as  I  intimated,  I  don't  want  it 
talked  about.  Civil  engineers  will  cost  me  from  ten 
dollars  to  twenty  dollars  a  day,  and  for  what  I  need  just 
now  you  will  do  quite  as  well.  I  want  to  find  out  which 
is  the  shortest  and  least  difficult  and  straightest  line  be- 
tween the  two  places.  I  want  to  know  whose  land  it  will 
run  over,  and  I  want  to  be  able  to  make  a  free  and  easy 
calculation  as  to  the  ultimate  expense  of  building  the 
road.  When  that  is  done  the  financiers  step  in,  and  we 
have  then  some  basis  on  which  to  form  calculations  as  to 
the  capitalisation  of  the  company  we  hope  to  organise. 


"  My  surveyor  is  false  "  255 

I  think  there  is  no  harm  in  taking  these  young  men  en- 
tirely into  our  confidence,  eh,  Mitchell?  ' 

"  None  that  I  can  see,"  replied  Mitchell,  "  on  the  under- 
standing that  they  do  not  talk  to  outsiders." 

"  Certainly,  certainly.  You've  agreed  to  that,  gentle- 
men, and  we  trust  you  completely.  You  can't  be  too  care- 
ful of  even  a  chance  word — I've  known  many  a  big 
scheme  wrecked  through  an  incautious  remark.  You 
don't  drink,  of  course  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  the  two  young  men  together. 

"  That's  right.  I've  no  use  for  a  drinking-  man.  Well, 
you  understand  we  engage  you  simply  because  we  want 
to  get  the  work  done  as  cheaply  as  possible,  and  because 
in  the  first  instance  absolute  accuracy  is  not  required. 
Now,  if  there's  any  question  you  want  to  ask,  I'm  ready 
to  answer  it." 

"  I  think  we  have  all  the  information  we  require.  If 
any  difficulty  arises  we  can  drop  you  a  note.'' 

"  Yes,  or  telegraph.  If  it  is  important,  jump  on  a  train 
and  come  to  New  York,  sending  me  a  message  that  you 
are  coming.  Send  me  a  report  each  week,  giving  a  brief 
statement  of  how  you  are  getting  along,  what  money  you 
have  drawn,  with  an  itemized  account.  That  will  keep 
us  straight." 

"  How  long  do  you  expect  this  job  to  last?  " 

"  That  I  can't  tell.  Depends  a  good  deal  on  the  diffi- 
culties you  meet  with.  I  don't  know  the  country,  but 
Mitchell  does.  What's  your  opinion,  John  ?  " 

"  It  may  take  them  well  into  the  fall.  A  good  deal 
depends  on  Boontown  Notch ;  the  rest  of  the  route  is 
comparatively  easy." 

"  Might  it  not  be  advisable  to  begin  at  the  Notch  and 
work  down  to  Pillageville  ?  "  suggested  Monro.  "  Our 
work  there  would  attract  less  notice  than  if  we  started  at 
the  town." 

"  No,"  said  Glassthrop,  decisively.  "  You  will  have  to 
establish  relations  at  the  bank,  and  you  will  have  to  get 
your  supplies  anyway  from  Pillageville.  No;  begin  at 
the  planing  mill,  and  strike  out  into  the  country.  Any- 


256  The  Victors 

thing  you  want  to  do  in  New  York?  Can  you  leave  to- 
night?" 

"  We  can  leave  to-night." 

"  Good.  You  will  find  all  the  instruments  you  need 
right  here.  There's  the  theodolite  in  the  corner ;  rod, 
chain  and  the  rest  are  in  the  outer  office.  You  may  expect 
Mitchell  to  drop  down  on  you  at  any  time.  He  has  a 
farm  in  the  neighbourhood  and  boasts  of  the  johnny-cake 
his  negro  cook  makes.  You  might  invite  the  Doys  to  your 
log  house,  John." 

"  I  shall  be  very  pleased  to  have  their  company  when 
I  go  to  the  ranch." 

"  There,  you  see,  I've  worked  an  invitation  for  you. 
Want  any  money  to  take  you  south?  " 

"  Oh,  no ;  we  have  plenty." 

"  I  pay  railway  fares,  you  know.  Don't  forget  to  send 
in  a  bill  for  them.  Weil,  good-bye.  Better  take  the  in- 
struments with  you  and  leave  them  at  the  depot,  because 
this  office  will  be  shut  before  your  train  leaves  to-night. 
Now,  John,  we'll  go  through  those  papers  together." 

The  young  men  felt  somehow  that  they  had  dropped 
suddenly  and  completely  from  the  cognisance  of  Glass- 
throp,  to  whom  Mitchell  brought  over  his  assorted  doc- 
uments. Monro  took  the  telescope-mounted  tripod  from 
the  corner,  and  with  McAllister  went  to  the  outer  office, 
leaving  an  unheeded  "  good-bye  "  behind  them.  Glass- 
throp  and  Mitchell  were  already  absorbed  in  their  papers. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

"  A    RARE    ENGINEER  " 

THE  young  men  found  Pillageville  a  scattered  place, 
half  town  and  half  village,  with  the  planing-  mill  at  the 
northern  outskirts.  Next  day  the  proprietor  of  this 
factory,  a  tall,  thin,  silent  man,  who  said  he  suffered  from 
malaria,  and  looked  it,  introduced  them  to  the  manager  of 
the  bank.  This  official  treated  them  with  such  courteous 
deference  that  his  manner  confirmed  his  clients  in  the  be- 
lief that  there  was  a  large  sum  of  money  at  thtir  disposal, 
though,  true  to  the  promise  given,  neither  made  any  ef- 
fort to  discover  how  much. 

Hiring  three  saddle-horses,  one  for  the  guide  they  took 
with  them,  they  left  their  belongings  at  the  hotel  and 
struck  across  the  open  country  towards  the  low  range  of 
blue  mountains,  dim  in  the  distance  to  the  northwest. 

The  first  part  of  their  journey  presented  no  engineer- 
ing obstacles ;  it  was  an  ideal  land  for  railway  building. 
Alter  traversing  the  plain,  they  entered  a  pine  forest, 
then  encountered  more  rugged  uplands,  and  finally  crossed 
the  notch  in  the  mountains,  with  a  brawling  stream,  shal- 
low in  places,  where  tree  trunks  were  balanced  strangely 
on  rocks  as  they  had  been  left  by  the  receding  torrent 
of  spring,  looking  sometimes  like  abandoned  cannon. 
Boontown  proved  to  be  a  sparse  collection  of  rough  frame 
and  log  houses  clustered  round  a  freight  shed  on  a  single 
track  railway.  There  were  a  few  sawmills,  one  owned 
b>  Robinson  of  the  planing  mill,  to  the  foreman  of  which 
he  gave  them  a  note  in  case  they  needed  assistance.  Re- 
turning, they  kept  by  the  edge  of  the  stream  which  flowed 
from  the  Notch,  and  it  led  them  through  the  forest  by  a 
longer  way  than  that  by  which  they  had  come,  until  they 
were  forced  to  abandon  it  in  the  open  country,  as  its  di- 
17  2S7 


258  The  Victors 

rection  did  not  make  for  Pillageville.  Their  guide  rode 
on  ahead,  and  they  followed  side  by  side. 

"  Well,  Ben,  what  do  you  think  of  it  all?  " 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know.  A  railway  line  seems  fea  ible 
enough,  but,  as  Glassthrop  said,  I  don't  see  where  thev 
are  going  to  get  their  traffic,  unless  it  is  to  be  a  logging 
and  lumber  road,  which  is  possibly  his  idea." 

"  I  can't  get  out  of  my  head  the  unreality  of  the  whole 
thing.  Somehow,  I  distrust  those  people.  Mitchell  kept 
silent  most  of  the  time,  except  when  Glassthrop  appealed 
to  him,  and  Glassthrop  appeared  to  me  to  be  talking 
glibly  to  persuade  us  to  believe  in  a  project  which  he  him- 
self didn't  believe  in." 

"  Why  should  he  care  whether  we  beLeved  in  it  or  not, 
and  why  should  we  care  whether  he  believes  in  it  or 
not,  as  long  as  he  pays  us  what  he  promised  and  gives  us 
a  three  or  four  months'  job?" 

"  Oh,  that's  all  right.  I'm  with  him  while  the  money 
holds,  but  it  doesn't  seem  to  me  this  is  the  way  railroads 
are  begun.  I  can't  imagine  shrewd  practical  men  picking 
up  two  youngsters,  entire  strangers  to  them,  and  sending 
them  down  here  to  carry  out  a  serious  undertaking,  for 
which  these  young  men  are  admittedly  unprepared.  The 
real  railroads  of  this  country  have  not  been  engineered  by 
men  who  never  heard  of  Trautwine  a  week  before  they 
started  operations.  It  has  a  fishy  look  to  me." 

"  Well,  what's  your  idea  of  it?  " 

"  I  don't  exactly  know.  It's  a  big  bluff  of  some  kind. 
We're  to  keep  our  mouths  shut,  and  to  pose  as  real  engi- 
neers, when  we're  not." 

"  Forty  dollars  a  week,  Jimmy.  There's  no  bluff  about 
that.  What  do  you  intend  to  do  ?  " 

"  Oh,  we'll  go  on,  of  course,  just  as  if  we  weren't  liv- 
ing in  a  fairy  tale.  We'll  do  the  best  we  can  for  the 
money,  and  work  hard." 

"  That's  right.  Now  don't  you  think  it  would  be  a 
good  plan  to  run  our  line  straight  from  Pillageville  to 
the  nearest  point  on  this  river  and  then  follow  it  up  to 
the  Notch?" 

"  NO,     You  must  remember  I'm  the  civil  engineer  of 


"  A  rare  engineer  "  259 

the  company.  I  operate  the  theodolite ;  you  merely  carry 
the  pole  and  look  after  the  chain.  The  river  either  means 
a  crooked  line  or  an  excess  of  cost  in  bridges.  We'll 
have  to  take  to  the  river  through  the  foothills  and  the 
mountains,  but  we  won't  strike  the  stream  till  we're  com- 
pelled to." 

"  By  jingo,  Jim !  You're  a  good  deal  of  an  engineer 
already.  That  seems  sensible,  and  I'm  with  you.  We'll 
have  to  camp  out,  won't  we,  as  soon  as  we  get  ten  miles 
or  so  from  the  village  ?  " 

"  I  expect  so." 

"  Say,  Jim,  before  a  week  we  two  are  going  to  believe 
in  the  Pillageville-Boontown  branch  as  thoroughly  as  we 
do  in  the  New  York  Central." 

"  Perhaps." 

"  Sure.  I  feel  a  certainty  of  it  already.  I  can  almost 
hear  the  toot  of  a  construction  tra'n  locomotive  echoing 
among  this  tall  timber.  Say,  we'll  need  a  few  axemen 
here." 

"  It  will  be  some  time  before  we  get  this  far.  Many 
things  may  happen  before  then." 

"  You  never  did  have  any  faith,  Jimmy ;  it's  a  great 
lack  in  your  character." 

"  You  have  faith  enough  for  any  two — for  a  whole 
surveying  party,  in  fact.  Faith  without  works  is  dead, 
and  I  confess  I  don't  see  the  works  ahead  as  plainly  as 
you  do." 

They  had  by  this  time  come  to  the  edge  of  the  forest, 
following  the  turbulent  river,  some  miles  to  the  south 
of  where  they  had  entered  the  woods  on  their  upward 
journey.  Their  guide  had  stopped  and  had  turned  half 
round  in  the  saddle,  his  hand  on  the  horse's  haunches. 
"  Say,"  he  cried,  as  they  came  up  with  him,  "  see  that  big 
log  house  on  the  slope  over  thar?  This  is  Mitchell's 
ranch  we're  on  now,  and  that  house  is  hisn.  He's  a  no'then 
man,  and  pow'ful  fond  o'  bosses.  He's  got  a  lot  o'  bosses 
on  that  ranch,  with  niggers  to  take  care  o'  them  mostly. 
He  comes  down  from  up  no'th  and  breaks  colts.  They 
say  he's  a  pow'ful  rich  man." 

"  Do  you  know  him  ?  " 


260  The  Victors 

"  Suttinly.  Know  him?  You  bet!  I've  taken  him 
out  to  this  ranch  more  times  than  I  could  shake  a  stick 
at.  They  never  know  when  he's  comin'.  He  just  tele- 
graphs to  the  boss  at  the  tavern  to  have  some  hosses  ready 
for  him,  and  he  steps  right  off  the  train  on  to  a  hoss,  and 
away  he  goes,  an'  I  mos'  generally  takes  out  his  trunks 
and  guns  and  things  in  a  light  waggon.  If  you  like  to 
call  there  you're  sho'  gettin'  somethin'  good  to  eat — an' 
drink,  too." 

"  We  won't  call.     We  don't  know  the  people." 

"That  don't  make  no  difference;  'sides,  Mitchell's  up 
no'th  now." 

The  guide  had  evidently  yearning  recollections  of  the 
hospitality  at  Mitchell's  ranch. 

"  I  guess  we  can  stand  it  till  we  get  to  the  hotel.  We'll 
have  better  appetites  then." 

The  guide  with  visible  reluctance  moved  on  ahead 
again. 

"  If  I  were  you,  Jimmy,  C.  E.,  I'd  run  the  line  through 
Mitchell's  ranch !  " 

"  I  won't,  without  definite  instructions  to  do  so ;  that 
is,  unless  the  ranch  happens  to  be  in  the  direct  line  be- 
tween the  town  and  the  Notch,  and  I  judge  it  isn't." 

"  Glassthrop  mentioned  the  place.  Perhaps  he  in- 
tended that  as  a  hint." 

"  Hints  don't  go  with  civil  engineers.  He  must  speak 
out  if  he  expects  me  to  pay  attention." 

The  trip,  which  occupied  several  days,  gave  the  young 
men  a  comprehensive  knowledge  of  the  country  that  was 
to  be  the  scene  of  their  operations,  and  their  confidence 
in  themselves  grew  as  time  went  on.  If  Glassthrop  ex- 
pected the  surveying  to  be  begun  without  attracting  much 
attention,  he  had  little  acquaintance  with  the  Pillageville 
people.  As  a  usual  thing1  the  populace  congregated 
at  the  railway  station  to  see  the  trains  come  in  and  de- 
part, but  now  they  adjourned  with  a  unanimity  that  was 
embarrassing,  to  surround  Jim  in  his  first  struggles  with 
the  theodolite.  He  said  nothing  unless  a  man  got  di- 
rectly in  his  line  of  sight,  and  then  Jim  was  compelled  to 
ask  him  to  step  aside,  which  the  man  always  good-na- 


11 A  rare  engineer  "  261 

turedly  did,  but  merely  to  give  place  to  another  consumed 
with  curiosity.  It  seemed  that  nobody  in  the  place  had 
anything  to  do,  except  the  hotel-keeper,  and  he  sat  tilted 
back  on  his  veranda,  his  heels  on  the  round  of  the  cheap 
wooden  chair,  and  his  ancient  straw  hat  pulled  down 
over  his  eyes,  in  which  unvarying  attitude  he  received 
with  equanimity  the  complaints  of  the  guests  regarding 
the  inferiority  of  his  tavern.  Sometimes,  but  very  sel- 
dom, he  was  goaded  into  a  reply.  He  was  a  patient  man ; 
still,  a  guest  now  and  then  went  too  far  in  denunciation. 
"  Worst  tavern  in  the  state  ?  "  he  would  drawl.  "  Oh,  I 
dunno  'bout  that.  Ever  stay  to  Bill  Summers'  place, 
Boontown  ?  Didn't  ?  Well,  then,  you  dunno  what  you're 
talkin'  'bout.  You  go  there." 

The  crowd  which  surrounded  Jim  when  he  began  oper- 
ations at  the  planing  mill  filled  him  with  uneasiness,  for 
he  feared  some  one  among  them  might  know  how  a  theod- 
olite should  be  used  and  thus  detect  his  amateurishness 
in  the  manipulation  of  the  instrument,  but  his  fears  were 
unfounded. 

"  Say,  mister,  what  'ud  you  charge  for  takin'  a  pict- 
ure ?  "  was  the  first  inquiry  made  of  him,  which  did  not 
hint  at  any  too  accurate  an  idea  of  the  functions  of  the 
machine.  But  another  retrieved  the  reputation  of  the 
place  by  chiding  the  first,  and  asking  if  he  did  not  see 
the  man  was  mapping  out  town  lots. 

For  the  first  day  or  two  the  young  men  had  an  appre- 
ciative group  of  onlookers  about  them,  but  after  that  they 
were  left  alone,  because  the  general  lassitude  made  it  im- 
possible for  the  natives  to  keep  up  an  interest  in  any  one 
thing  for  a  longer  period,  and  also  because  the  survey- 
ing party  were  getting  farther  and  farther  away  from  Pil- 
lageyille,  and  the  energy  of  the  citizens  was  not  equal 
to  following  them.  The  editor  of  the  local  paper  en- 
deavoured to  interview  each  of  the  newcomers  regarding 
the  project,  but  failed  to  get  any  definite  information ; 
nevertheless  the  next  issue  of  the  journal  contained  a 
glowing  account  of  the  new  railway — a  long-felt  want, 
it  said — and  predicted  that  Pillageville  would  become  the 
Chicago  of  the  south,  the  great  railway  centre  of  the 


262  The  Victors 

Carolinas,  a  position  to  which  its  situation  and  the  well- 
known  industry  and  enterprise  of  its  inhabitants  fully  en- 
titled it.  This  interesting  revelation  was  commented 
upon  by  the  press  of  the  state  generally. 

Monro  sent  a  number  of  these  extracts  to  Glassthrop, 
some  giving  marvellous  figures  relating  to  the  capital 
of  the  northern  company  that  was  building  the  new  road, 
and  said  in  his  report  that  he  had  given  absolutely  no  de- 
tails to  anyone.  Glassthrop's  calm  did  not  seem  to  be  dis- 
turbed. He  wrote  that  such  guessing  was  only  what  he 
had  anticipated  ;  that  some  mention  of  the  new  road  had 
appeared  even  in  the  railway  columns  of  a  few  New  York 
papers ;  that  curiosity  would  soon  d'e  down,  and  that  they 
were  to  continue  their  work  unheeding. 

This  being  good  advice,  and  the  young-men  having  en- 
tered into  their  summer's  task  with  energy  and  discre- 
tion, we  cannot  do  better  than  follow  the  example  of  the 
citizens  of  Pillageville  and  leave  them  to  it  unmolested, 
being  certain  to  hear  from  them  if  anything  unexpected 
occurs. 


BOOK   III 
BEGINNING  THE  GAME 

CHAPTER   I 

"  THIS  MIGHT  BE  THE  FATE  OF  A  POLITICIAN  " 

PATRICK  MAGUIRE  looked  over  New  York  (supple- 
menting his  unwearying  pedestrianism  by  occasional  long- 
distance rides  on  street  cars)  very  thoroughly,  like  a  man 
who  inspects  a  bit  of  property  he  has  purchased,  noting 
down  in  his  mind  the  future  possibilities  of  this  section 
or  that.  Bearing  some  resemblance  to  his  newly-arrived 
countryman  who  perused  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States,  he  was  mightily  plazed  wid  it.  He  interviewed 
policemen,  street-car  conductors,  saloon-keepers  compre- 
hensively and  indiscriminately,  and  never  went  without 
desired  information  through  lack  of  asking  for  it.  Being 
hail-fellow-well-met,  he  always  fell  in  with  civil  answers 
and  much  good  humour.  The  thin  silken  line  of  his  ac- 
cent tied  him  at  once  to  the  attention  of  most  of  those 
whom  he  accosted,  and  when  he  encountered  a  brogue 
his  own  accent  seemed  insensibly  to  deepen,  until  often 
he  was  asked  what  county  he  came  from,  and  had  he 
been  long  out.  There  was  something  of  the  chameleon 
about  Maguire — his  hue  corresponded  largely  with  the 
colour  that  surrounded  him. 

Maguire  found  that  he  knew  the  city  almost  as  well 
as  if  he  had  lived  in  it  for  years  before.  He  was  a  great 
reader,  who  never  opened  a  book.  Newspapers  were  his 
literary  food,  and  a  man  who  depends  on  them  gets  a  very 
fair  and  extensive  knowledge  of  things  as  they  are.  He 
may  not  know  much  of  things  as  they  have  been,  but  he 

263 


264  The  Victors 

will  be  up  to  date,  and  the  happenings  in  New  York,  po- 
litical and  criminal,  if  apparent  tautology  may  be  for- 
given, occupies  a  large  share  even  of  the  western  press. 
Thus  Maguire  knew  well  who  were  the  leading  men  of 
New  York,  although  his  list  included  no  clergymen, 
statesmen,  scientists  or  others  whom  some  of  us  might 
have  considered  celebrated.  In  like  manner  he  knew  the 
different  localities  almost  by  instinct,  in  spite  of  his  never 
having  seen  them  before.  Thus  he  paused  at  the  City 
Hall  and  gazed  with  admiration  at  the  Court  House 
as  the  only  building  in  the  world  worth  two  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  dollars  that  had  cost  ten  or  more  millions 
to  complete. 

"  I  think  I'll  drop  in  and  see  Bradley,"  he  said  to  him- 
self. 

Herman  J.  Bradley  occupied  the  comparatively  humble 
office  of  deputy  street  commissioner,  but  like  many  an- 
other man  he  was  valued  for  his  possessions.  He  owned 
the  mayor  of  New  York, the  governor  of  the  state,  the  two 
senators  at  Washington,  judges,  boards  too  numerous  to 
mention,  and  an  army  of  officials  like  unto  the  sands  of 
the  sea  in  number.  Not  even  the  Czar  of  Russa  wielded 
such  despotic  power  as  he  did,  and  Charles  I.  had  his  head 
cut  off  for  endeavouring  to  raise  a  tithe  of  the  money 
Bradley  and  his  gang  annually  looted  from  a  single  city. 
But  it  was  his  proud  boast  that  the  humblest  citizen  might 
walk  in  and  hold  converse  with  him,  while  he  had  been 
known  to  keep  haughty  millionaires  waiting  out  in  the 
cold. 

After  some  inquiry  Maguire  reached  the  ante-room  of 
the  deputy  street  commissioner,  whose  business  it  was  to 
keep  the  streets  of  New  York  dirty  and  the  hands  of  his 
henchman  apparently  clean ;  but  Patrick  found  that  ad- 
mittance to  the  presence  was  not  so  easy  as  the  pleasant 
paragraphs  in  friendly  newspapers  had  intimated.  Va- 
rious underlings,  who  looked  like  prize-fighters,  and  who 
held  cigars  uptilted  in  their  mouths — a  truculent  position 
for  a  cigar — stopped  him  and  desired  to  know  what  he 
wanted,  but  Patrick's  unfailing  tact  and  good  nature  mit- 
igated the  threats  made  by  one  or  two  to  throw  him  out. 


"  This  might  be  the  fate  of  a  politician  "  265 

so  that  at  last,  partly  by  a  fluke,  and  partly  by  a  display 
of  consummate  cheek,  he  found  himself  standing  before 
the  flat  desk  of  the  deputy,  who  also  had  a  cigar  in  his 
mouth,  not  held,  however,  at  the  altitude  attained  by  cer- 
tain other  brands  outside.  To  his  amazement  he  found 
Bradley  much  easier  to  deal  with  than  some  of  the  smaller 
people  he  had  encountered  on  his  way  thither. 

The  autocrat  said  very  little  and  seemed  to  be  a  grim, 
serious  man.  He  looked  up  at  Maguire,  silently,  wait- 
ing for  him  to  speak,  and  his  penetrating  eyes  seemed 
turning  inward  as  if  to  search  his  mind  for  any  picture  of 
the  person  who  now  stood  before  him.  Not  finding  the 
image  of  the  newcomer  in  his  memory,  they  fastened 
themselves  sternly,  questioningly,  on  the  daring  young 
man,  who  cleared  his  throat  and  spoke. 

"  My  name  is  Patrick  Maguire.  I  think  I  have  a  turn 
for  politics,  and  I'd  like  to  try  my  hand  at  the  game.  So, 
Mr.  Bradley,  I  came  direct  to  headquarters." 

The  Boss  puffed  slowly  at  his  cigar,  still  keeping  his 
deep  eyes  on  the  young  man,  who,  to  his  annoyance,  be- 
gan to  feel  abashed  at  the  scrutiny. 

"  What  precinct  are  you  from  ?  "  asked  a  bystander 
sharply,  who  occupied  a  position  at  the  end  of  the  desk. 
"  Why  don't  you  go  to  the  chief  of  your  precinct  ?  " 

"  I'm  not  from  any  precinct.  I  just  came  into  New 
York  this  morning." 

"  How  did  you  come  ?     By  Castle  Garden  ?  " 

"  Now,  look  here,  my  fine  fellow,"  cried  Maguire,  his 
hot  temper  flaming  up  like  a  flash  of  powder,  "  I  don't 
want  none  of  your  lip.  I  came  to  talk  to  Mr.  Bradley, 
not  to  you." 

"  Oh,  throw  him  out !  He's  no  good.  What  the  devil 
is  he  doing  here  ?  "  shouted  another,  while  the  first  said 
more  calmly : 

"  Don't  be  so  fresh,  young  man ;  you'll  find  you  have 
to  talk  to  me  whether  you  want  to  or  not.  Haven't  you 
made  a  mistake?  Hadn't  you  better  get  out  into  Broad- 
way and  clear  your  brain  a  little?" 

"  Now,  by  God,  I  don't  know  but  you're  right.  I  think 
I'd  better  go  out  and  begin  shouting  that  Boss  Bradley 


266  The  Victors 

is  no  such  friend  to  the  poor  man  that  the  lying  papers 
says  he  is.  '  T'row  'im  out '  is  the  best  word  a  man  gets 
in  the  deputy  commissioner's  office.  A  decent  man  has 
no  right  here,  I  find,  and  even  the  Boss  daren't  open  his 
mouth.  I've  been  misled  by  the  press  of  the  country." 

"  Oh,  the  papers  are  always  lying  about  us,"  remarked 
a  third  jocularly. 

And  -now  for  the  first  time  Bradley  spoke  curtly,  hold- 
ing his  lips  away  from  his  teeth-clinched  cigar. 

"  What  do  you  want  ?  "  he  said. 

"  Well,  you  might  do  worse  than  put  me  in  the  place 
of  this  spalpeen  here.  Then  you  would  have  one  polite 
man  about  you,  which  don't  hurt  at  election  times." 

"  Where  are  you  from  ?     What  have  you  done  ?  " 

"  I'm  here  straight  from  Michigan.  I've  just  worked 
a  little  election  there  in  elegant  style,  and  I  want  to  try 
my  hand  in  New  York,  beginning  in  a  small  way,  with  a 
chance  of  promotion  if  I  give  good  satisfaction." 

"  An  election  in  Michigan  is  a  different  thing  from  an 
election  in  New  York." 

"  That's  just  what  I  thought,  Mr.  Bradley,  so  I  got  in 
the  real  New  York  throw  on  them. ' 

"  Your  side  won,  then  ?  " 

"  They  won  up  to  the  beginning  of  the  voting,  but  I 
sold  them  out  to  the  other  chaps  the  day  before,  and  made 
a  few  hundred  dollars  clear ;  and  that's  why  I  keep  my 
hands  in  my  pockets  now,  seeing  the  crowd  that's  round 
you." 

There  was  a  laugh  at  this  from  the  insulted  coterie, 
who  pressed  closer  to  the  desk  to  be  within  sight  and 
hearing  of  the  most  brazen  applicant  who  had  drifted  in 
there  for  many  a  day.  But  Bradley  seemed  devoid  of  a 
sense  of  humour.  He  merely  frowned  and  said : 

"  Where's  Tom? '' 

The  henchman  mentioned  came  up  to  the  front. 

"  Here,  Mr.  Bradley." 

"  Take  this  man  down  to  Mike  Rafferty's  precinct  and 
put  him  on  the  gang." 

"  All  right,  sir.     Come  along." 

The  ring  round  the  Boss  closed  up  and  Maguire  fol- 


"  This  might  be  the  fate  of  a  politician  "  267 

lowed  his  leader  through  the  corridor,  leaving  the  deputy 
street  commissioner  to  resume  his  interrupted  calling. 

"  I  say,  Tom,"  began  Maguire,  as  they  reached  the 
outside,  "  what's  the  gang?  What  did  he  mean  ?  " 

"  Well,  if  you  ask  me,"  replied  Tom,  "  I  should  say 
it  means  ructions.  But  I  don't  know  what  it  does  mean, 
to  tell  the  truth,  so  I'm  going  to  keep  my  head  shut  about 
it.  Don't  ask  me  no  questions,  and  I'll  tell  you  no  lies." 

"  Yes,  but  it  won't  hurt  you,  Tom,  to  tell  me  where 
I'm  going." 

"  Oh,  you  needn't  '  Tom  '  me,  as  if  you  were  an  old  pal 
o'  mine,  for  I've  had  nothing  to  do  with  it,  and  if  you 
want  to  be  as  chummy  to  me  as  you  pretend,  you'll  tell 
Mike  that." 

"Mike  who?" 

"  Mike  Raiferty." 

"  All  right.  I'll  tell  him  anything." 
They  walked  up  Broadway  and  then  toward  the  western 
front  of  the  city  by  the  street  through  which  Maguire 
had  penetrated  New  York  that  morning.  Some  men  with 
shovels  were  dawdling  on  the  tnoroughfare,  and  one  of 
these  Tom  accosted. 

"Where's  Mike?     Do  you  know?" 

"  I  donno.     I  hain't  seen  him  for  two  days." 

"  He's  likely  in  Doolan's  saloon,"  said  another. 

"  That's  just  round  the  corner,"  explained  Tom  to 
Maguire. 

"  Oh,  I  know  the  barkeeper  there.  He's  an  old  friend 
o'  mine,"  replied  the  latter. 

"  I  thought  you  just  came  to  New  York  to-day." 

"  So  I  did,  but  it  don't  take  me  half  an  hour  to  make 
an  old  friend.  I'm  not  so  slow  as  you  New  Yorkers." 

If  Tom  meditated  any  reply,  their  arrival  at  the  saloon 
prevented  it.  There  were  half  a  dozen  men  or  more 
standing  at  the  bar  with  glasses  in  various  states  of  empti- 
ness before  them,  and  the  talk  was  loud  and  general.  A 
tall  man,  with  florid  face  and  silk  hat  well  to  the  back  of 
his  head,  seemed  to  be  treating  and  doing  most  of  the  talk- 
ing. The  only  really  sober  man  in  the  place  was  the 
white-sleeved  bartender.  To  the  tall  flushed  man  Tom 


268  The  Victors 

approached  and  begged  a  word  in  private  with  him,  Ma- 
guire  standing  aloof. 

"  Spit  it  out,  Tom,"  shouted  the  person  addressed. 
"  We've  no  secrets  here  among  friends,  have  we,  boys  ? 
What's  going  on  at  the  City  Hall  ?  " 

"  Here's  a  man,  Mr.  Rafferty,  that  the  Boss  sent  down 
to  be  put  on  the  gang,"  said  Tom  in  palpable  fear,  a  fear 
that  was  speedily  justified. 

"What !  "  roared  Rafferty,  glaring  at  Maguire.  "  Did 
he  say  anything  about  the  three  good  men  whose  names 
I  gave  him  two  weeks  ago  this  very  day  ?  " 

"  He  did  not,  Mr.  Rafferty.  He  just  said  '  Take  this 
man  to  Rafferty  and  put  him  on  the  gang.'  " 

Rafferty  brought  down  his  fist  on  the  bar  with  a  thud 
that  made  the  glasses  jump  and  jingle,  swearing  a  mighty 
oath  as  he  did  so. 

"  He'll  not  move  a  shovel  on  any  street  in  my  precinct 
while  my  name's  Mike  Rafferty.  Do  ye  hear  that,  ye 
flannel-mouthed  son  of  a  sucker,  comin'  here  to  take  the 
bread  out  of  honest  men's  mouths,  and  them  as  good 
voters  as  there's  in  the  whole  ward." 

"  Excuse  me,"  said  Maguire,  with  a  suave  politeness 
that  entirely  misled  the  angry  man  regarding  the  speaker's 
temper.  "  Excuse  me,  .gentlemen,  but  do  I  understand 
that  the  '  gang  '  is  the  street-cleaning  brigade  I  have  often 
admired  from  the  sidewalk  this  day  as  about  the  only  per- 
sons in  New  York  who  have  nothing  at  all  to  do  ?  " 

"  Here,  you  get  out  o'  this !  "  yelled  Mike  Rafferty. 
"  Get  your  big  feet  off  my  precinct.  What  are  ye  doin' 
here,  anyhow,  you  mug  from  the — " 

Mr.  Rafferty  never  finished  his  elegant  sentence,  for 
at  this  moment  Maguire  sprang  forward  like  a  released 
bull-dog  and  smote  him  a  terrific  blow  on  the  mouth, 
which  impact  knocked  Rafferty  back  against  the  bar, 
when  a  ringing  left-hander  on  the  right  ear  sent  him  like 
a  log  to  the  floor.  There  was  instant  commotion  in 
the  place,  Tom  wringing  his  hands  in  a  safe  corner, 
moaning : 

"  I  knew  it— I  knew  it !  " 

The  bartender  rushed  to  the  doors  and  closed  them, 
tHe  drinkers  making  a  motion  of  attack  all  together. 


"  This  might  be  the  fate  of  a  politician  "  269 

"Any  friend  of  his  object?"  inquired  Maguire  in  his 
most  insinuating  tone,  falling  back  into  a  new  position 
and  rolling  up  his  sleeves  as  he  did  so.  The  movement 
among  the  stricken  man's  friends  resolved  itself  into  a 
first-aid-to-the-injured  effort,  and  they  clustered  sympa- 
thetically round  the  fallen  hero. 

"  Call  a  policeman !  "  spluttered  Rafferty.  "  See  if 
Ryan's  on  his  beat.'' 

"  No,  no,''  pleaded  the  bartender.  "  Gentlemen,  gen- 
tlemen, we'll  all  be  in  the  papers  to-morrow  morning,  if 
we're  not  careful.  It's  no  fair  play  to  strike  a  man  like 
that  without  warning,  and  it'd  serve  you  right  to  spend 
a  night  in  the  cells,"  he  added  angrily  to  Maguire,  who 
stood  ready  for  anything  that  might  arrive. 

"  I'll  have  his  life,  by  God !  I'll  have  his  life !  "  threat- 
ened Rafferty,  staggering,  with  assistance,  to  his  feet. 
"  You'se  all  saw  it !  He  shtruck  me  whin  I  wasn't 
lookin'." 

"  Then  get  up  and  look,  and  I'll  do  it  again,"  said  Ma- 
guire. 

"  I'll  break  your  neck,"  cried  Rafferty,  wiping  the  blood 
off  his  chin  with  his  hand,  too  excited  to  see  the  towel 
the  bartender  pressed  upon  him. 

"  Well,  it's  more  than  you  could  do  a  minute  ago," 
growled  Maguire. 

"  You  shut  up,"  commanded  the  exasperated  bar- 
tender. "  You've  done  enough  harm  now,  without  giv- 
ing us  any  of  your  chin  music." 

"  Me  shut  up,  is  it  ?  "  And  Maguire's  angered  fist 
came  down  on  the  counter  top  with  the  force  of  a  steam 
hammer.  "  Be  the  stars  and  stripes,  Johnny,  me  pretty 
beer-slinger,  but  ye're  smoothin'  down  the  wrong  man 
entoirely.  There's  not  a  squake  left  in  Mike  Rafferty, 
gutter  groveller  that  he  is.  Let  him  open  his  yap  at  me 
again,  an'  nis  back's  on  the  sawdust  before  he  closes  it. 
Give  me  the  wink  of  an  eye  from  any  one  of  the  lot  of 
ye,  an'  it's  out  on  the  street  ye  all  are,  with  Policeman 
Ryan  on  the  top  of  ye.  De  ye  hear  that,  now!  I'll  learn 
ye  to  insult  a  gintleman  whin  he  comes  t'  ye  as  saft  spoken 
as  a  three-months'  lamb." 


270  The  Victors 

"It's  all  right;  it's  all  right,"  pleaded  the  bartender, 
soothingly,  quick  as  a  weather  bureau  official  to  detect  the 
position  of  the  real  storm  centre. 

"It's  all  right,  is  it?  I  say  it's  not  all  right.  Did  I 
begin  it?  Did  I  t'row  out  every  insultin'  word  I  could 
lay  my  tongue  to?  I  did  not.  An'  who  sint  me  here? 
It  was  Boss  Bradley  himself.  An'  I  wasn't  sint  here  to 
take  any  o'  Mike  Rafferty's  clack.  Go  and  tell  the  Boss 
that  ye  called  him  a  fool  an'  that  I  struck  ye  to  the  ground 
for  it." 

"  I  didn't  say  a  word  against  the  Boss,"  muttered  Raf- 
ferty.  "  I  don't  blame  the  Boss.  It's  Grady  that's  done 
this." 

"  Indeed  it  was  the  Boss  himself,  Mr.  Rafferty.  Grady 
wasn't  there  at  all,  at  all,"  put  in  Tom. 

"  If  you're  afraid  to  say  a  word  agin  the  Boss,"  inter- 
rupted Maguire,  calming  down,  "  then  I'll  say  it  for  you. 
He's  no  judge  of  men;  he's  a  fool  to  send  a  man  like  me 
here,  thinking  I'm  that  hard  up  as  to  welcome  a  job  of 
street  cleaning.  Put  your  three  men  on,  Rafferty,  good 
voters  as  they  are,  but  you  don't  get  me  in  the  gang,  al- 
though before  next  election  I'll  have  a  hundred  voters  at 
my  back  for  every  one  of  your  three  street  swabbers." 

"  Don't  you  want  a  job  then?  "  inquired  the  bartender 
in  amazement.  It  was  the  first  time  he  had  known  any- 
thing refused  in  New  York. 

"Want  the  job?"  returned  the  indignant  Maguire. 
"  Do  you  want  the  job?  " 

"  No.     I'm  in  another  profession,"  replied  Doolan. 

"  Well,  so  am  I.  I'm  no  scavenger,  I'd  have  you 
know." 

"  You  see  it's  all  right,  Mr.  Rafferty.  The  man  doesn't 
want  to  go  on  the  gang,"  reasoned  the  peace-making 
bartender  to  the  sullen  leader  of  the  precinct. 

"  Then  what  the  divil  is  he  doing  here  ? "  inquired 
Rafferty  from  behind  his  towel. 

"  I'd  a-told  you  that  in  a  minute  if  ye'd  a  kept  a  civil 
tongue  in  your  head,"  said  Maguire. 

"  I'll  make  your  head  sore  for  that  yet,  me  lad,  if  ye 
don't  get  out  of  this  precinct." 


dl  This  might  be  the  fate  of  a  politician  "  271 

"  Yah.  Threatened  men  live  long.  What'll  you 
drink,  boys  ?  " 

Tom  edged  up  near  the  bar.  The  attitude  of  the  others 
distinctly  leaned  toward  the  victor,  with  the  exception  of 
two,  who  still  proffered  sympathy,  but  took  care  not  to 
give  it  any  practical  demonstration  while  the  assailant 
was  in  his  truculent  mood.  Even  they  wavered  when  the 
seductive  invitation  was  sent  forth.  The  bartender, 
much  relieved  at  the  clearing  of  the  sudden  storm,  threw 
open  the  doors  again  and  got  into  his  place  of  usefulness. 

"  What  will  you  have,  gentlemen?  '  he  asked,  smiling. 

"  No  friend  of  mine  drinks  with  that  man,"  said  Raf- 
ferty. 

"  Oh,  a  drink  is  a  drink,"  exclaimed  one  of  the  by- 
standers, who  up  to  this  moment  had  not  spoken.  "  Come 
along,  Mike,  and  join  us,  and  let  bygones  be  bygones. 
I'll  apologise  all  round,  myself,  just  to  make  things 
square." 

"  I  didn't  expect  that  from  you,  Ramsay,  and  ye'd  bet- 
ter think  twice  before  ye  drink  with  an  enemy  of  mine." 

"  As  far's  that's  concerned,  Mike,  I  choose  my  own 
company,  and  if  you  don't  like  it,  you  can  lump  it.  I'm 
not  seeking  a  job  under  you,  any  more  than  this  young 
man  appears  to  be." 

"  Then  don't  expect  me  to  smooth  out  trouble  with  your 
men,  that  all." 

"  Oh,  don't  let  that  bother  you,  Mike.  My  men's  as 
independent  as  I  am,  and  that's  what's  the  matter  with 
them.  I'm  thinking  you'll  want  my  help  next  Novem- 
ber more  than  I  want  yours  now  or  any  other  time.  So, 
if  your  tongue  likes  to  make  two  enemies  in  an  afternoon, 
all  right,  say  I." 

"  Gentlemen,  gentlemen,"  gently  urged  the  bartender, 
standing  ready  for  orders.  "  Enough  said ;  let  it  go  at 
that.  Come,  Mike,  have  a  drink  with  me." 

"  No,'  be  gubs !  "  cried  Maguire,  tapping  the  bar  with 
his  knuckles.  "  This  treat's  mine,  ancl  whoever  drinks 
drinks  at  my  expense.  The  man  who  refuses  can  go 
somewhere  else." 

"  That's  the  way  to  talk !  "  said  Ramsay.  "  And  when 
this  glass  is  done  I  have  the  money  to  pay  for  the  next." 


272  The  Victors 

The  official  street-cleaner  departed  with  his  two  friends 
unmollified,  and  those  who  remained  turned  with  a  sigh 
of  relief  to  the  interrupted  business  of  the  day. 

"  Here's  to  you,"  saluted  Ramsay,  lifting  his  glass. 
"  Mike  will  be  sorry  for  this  in  the  morning." 

"  Oh,  he's  a  good  fellow  usually/'  put  in  the  bartender; 
"  and  I  dunno  what's  wrong  with  him  t  j-day." 

"  Well,  when  a  man  beats  his  bacK  against  the  saw- 
dust as  hard  as  Mike  did,  one  doesn't  need  to  wonder 
what's  wrong  with  iiim.  So  you  don't  care  to  work 
with  the  gang,  my  son  ?  " 

"  I  do  not." 

"  Why  did  you  go  to  the  Boss  ?     What  pull  have  you  ?  " 

"  I  haven't  any  pull  at  all.  I'm  going  in  for  politics, 
and  so  I  went  to  the  chief  to  see  if  he  could  put  me 
in  the  way  of  anything  to  do,  never  thinking  he  would 
insult  me  by  setting  me  at  cleaning  streets." 

"  Now  there's  where  you're  wrong.  It*  wasn't  any  in- 
sult, and  wasn't  meant  to  be.  By  gosh !  that's  how  Tam- 
many takes  care  of  its  own,  and  no  wonder  the  opposi- 
tion can't  smash  it.  Here's  a  young  fellow  blows  in 
against  the  Boss,  without  a  single  soul  to  say  a  word  in 
his  favour,  and  gets  a  job  that  the  other  men  are  pulling 
all  the  strings  for.  It's  amazing,  isn't  it,  Tom?" 

"  Yes,  it  is,"  replied  Tom,  who  had  kept  well  out  of 
sight  until  Rafferty  had  disappeared;  then  sidled  up  to 
the  bar  with  the  others.  "  Yes,  it  is.  I  knew  there'd  be 
trouble.  Didn't  I  tell  you  so?" 

"  You  did,"  corroborated  Maguire  airily,  "  and  didn't 
I  back  up  your  statement  the  moment  I  came  in  ?  " 

"  You  did  that,"  commented  several  others  together. 

Ramsay  stood  treat  and  then  someone  else  proposed 
to  do  the  same  thing,  but  Ramsay  said  he  had  reached 
his  limit  and  must  go. 

"  By  the  way,  what's  your  name,  youngster  ? "  he 
asked. 

"Pat  Maguire." 

"  Well,  that's  a  good,  handy  workable  name  for  this 
precinct;  a  darned  sight  better  than  Ramsay,  if  you're 
going  in  for  politics.  Better  walk  down  the  street  with 
me  a  bit." 


"  This  might  be  the  fate  of  a  politician  "  273 

"  I  was  to  wait  here  for  an  old  friend  of  mine  that's 
wheelman  on  one  of  the  ferries." 

The  bartender  leaned  over  the  counter  and  whispered 
something  to  Ramsay. 

"  Oh,"  cried  the  latter  snapping  his  fingers,  "  I  don't 
care  that  for  Mike  Rafferty.  He  can't  hurt  me  because 
I  don't  want  any  favour  from  him.  Th.'s  is  a  free  coun- 
try. Besides,  I  am  amazed  that  none  of  you  men  see 
further  than  the  end  of  your  noses.  It  was  Boss  Bradley 
sent  this  man  here,  and  he  cuts  a  bigger  swath  in  New 
York  than  a  dozen  Mike  Raffertys.  You've  overlooked 
that  little  point.  It  seems,  as  far  as  I  can  make  out,  that 
Maguire  here  is  Bradley's  man." 

"  He  is  that,"  emphatically  chimed  in  Tom,  who  seemed 
to  have  a  grovelling  respect  for  the  majority. 

"  You  can  see  your  wheelman  another  time,  Maguire. 
Ferry-boats  don't  go  up  to  Albany  or  over  to  Europe. 
Come  along  with  me." 

"  I  don't  mind  if  I  do.    Tell  the  pilot  I'll  see  him  later, 
Doolan,"  added  Maguire  to  the  bartender. 
18 


CHAPTER   II 

"  WE  QUARREL  IN  PRINT  " 

ONCE  out  on  the  pavement,  Ramsay  threw  an  in- 
dicative thumb  over  his  shoulder  in  the  direction  of  the 
saloon  they  had  just  left,  and  remarked: 

"  You  mustn't  think  I  spend  much  of  my  time  in 
there.  I'm  really  a  busy  man,  but  I  have  to  stand  in  with 
all  sorts  of  people,  although  I  don't  take  a  great  deal 
of  interest  in  politics.  Mike  Rafferty  is  laying  pipe  for 
his  election  as  alderman  from  this  ward  in  November, 
and  he  came  round  for  me  with  one  or  two  of  his  hangers- 
on,  and  we  all  went  to  the  saloon  to  save  the  country. 
I  am  manager  of  the  New  Amstel  printing  works,  and 
we  get  a  good  deal  of  printing  from  both  parties,  so  a 
man  can't  be  too  mighty  particular  what  company  he 
keeps.  Political  printing,  tickets,  handbills  and  that 
sort  of  thing  is  profitable,  for  they  don't  look  too  closely 
at  the  accounts,  or  kick  at  the  prices,  as  is  the  case  with 
commercial  work.  Do  you  know  anything  about  print- 
ing?" 

"  Not  a  thing." 

"  Well,  printers  are  a  hard  set  of  men  to  get  along  with, 
as  a  general  rule.  They're  too  blamed  intelligent,  for 
one  thing.  They  read  too  much.  Next  to  cigar-makers, 
who  talk  too  much,  they're  the  most  difficult  to  deal 
with.  The  New  Amstel  is  not  a  union  office,  and  some- 
times I  think  there  would  be  less  trouble  if  it  were,  but 
the  boss — that's  the  owner,  for  I'm  boss  practically — 
won't  have  a  union  man  in  the  place,  if  he  can  help  it. 
There  was  a  strike  five  years  ago  that  cost  him  a  lot  of 
money,  and  the  New  Amstel's  been  out  of  the  union  ever 
since.  That  causes  friction,  for  I  guess  I  take  on  union 
hands  in  spite  of  myself ;  they  talk  among  our  men,  and, 
274  • 


"  We  quarrel  in  print  "  275 

first  thing  I  know,  we  are  in  trouble.  Now,  I'm  an  easy- 
going fellow  myself  and  like  to  have  things  running 
smooth.  I  had  an  assistant  that  the  men  got  down  on, 
and  last  week  he  was  taken  to  the  hospital.  He  had  no 
backbone  and  was  afraid  of  the  men,  anyhow.  You  see, 
I  use  an  assistant  as  a  house  uses  a  lightning-rod  to  take 
away  the  surplus  electricity.  I  hire  him  to  become  un- 
popular instead  of  me,  and  sometimes  there's  too  much 
electricity.  Now  why  does  a  young  man  like  you  want 
to  go  in  for  politics?  It's  a  disappointing,  heart-breaking 
business  at  best,  and  you're  sure  to  get  thrown  sooner  or 
later.  You'd  make  far  more  in  the  long  run  at  some 
legitimate  work." 

"  Well,  to  tell  the  truth,  Mr.  Ramsay,  I'm  a  boy  to  talk. 
I've  got  the  gift  of  gab,  an'  politics  seems  to  me  the 
only  thing  in  this  country  that  gives  a  chance  to  the 
man  with  a  wagging  tongue." 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know.  There's  preaching  and  peddling, 
and—' 

"  I've  just  left  the  road.  I  was  a  pedlar,  and  there's 
too  much  footwork  and  not  enough  cash  or  glory  about  it, 
as  the  postman  said." 

"  Now,  look  here.  I  want  a  man  like  you,  who  can 
soft-soap  the  boys  with  h's  tongue,  and  knock  one  down 
with  his  fist  if  occasion  should  require  it.  I  can  pay  you 
good  money,  and  it  needn't  interfere  with  your  politics 
a  bit.  What  do  you  say  ?  '' 

"  It  isn't  a  bad  idea;  but  I  don't  understand  the  print- 
ing business." 

"  I  understand  the  printing  business,  and  I'll  tell  you 
what  to  do.  What  I  want  you  for  is  to  take  the  blame 
generally.  Then  when  the  men  complain  to  me  I'll  say  I 
have  a  contract  with  you,  which  will  be  true,  and  they'll 
try  to  make  things  lively  for  you,  so  you  won't  stay.  I 
expect  you  to  stay." 

"  That  would  likely  fall  in  with  my  own  notion,  for 
the  throw-him-out  game  is  one  that  two  can  play  at,  and 
rouses  opposition.  I'd  be  on  the  spot,  anyhow,  when  they 
were  doing  the  throwing." 

Ramsay  laughed, 


276  The  Victors 

"  That's  the  kind  of  man  I  want,"  he  said. 

"  But  I'm  not  at  all  satisfied  with  my  acquaintance  with 
Mike  Rafferty,"  remarked  Maguire,  changing  the  sub- 
ject. "  I'd  like  to  see  some  more  of  that  bully  boy. 
What'd  be  the  chance  of  my  beating  him  for  alderman 
of  this  ward?  I'd  like  to  help  on  the  good  government  of 
th's  city,  that  the  papers  are  always  clamouring  for." 

"  You  mean,  to  get  the  Tammany  nomination  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  Not  the  slightest  chadfce  in  the  world.  Rafferty '11 
have  all  the  primaries  fixed,  and  after  that  he's  sure  of 
election.  They'll  count  him  in  anyhow,  but  they  don't 
need  to  do  any  fraudulent  counting  in  this  district,  as 
they  might  in  an  up-town  one.  Mike's  a  sure  enough 
alderman,  unless  Tammany  itself  turns  him  down." 

"  Lots  of  things  may  happen  between  now  and 
November." 

"  Sure.  Still,  you've  no  show.  If  anybody  knocks 
Mike  out  it  will  be  Grady." 

"  Could  I  capture  the  republican  primary  then  ?  " 

"  Oh,  easy.  But  what  good  would  that  do  you  ?  A  re- 
publican, or  even  a  decent  democrat,  has  just  as  much 
chance  in  this  ward  as  a  ton  of  ice  would  have  in  the 
devil's  kitchen.  But,  anyhow,  November's  a  long  way 
off,  and  you  have  to  do  something  for  a  living,  so  why  not 
have  a  try  with  me?  I  won't  object  to  any  quiet  elec- 
tioneering you  like  to  do,  after  hours,  on  your  own  ac- 
count. You'll  be  a  resident  of  the  ward,  and  in  business 
in  it,  and  so,  can  get  acquainted  with  the  voters,  which 
is  always  something." 

"All  right,  Mr.Ramsay,  I  don't  mind  if  I  do.  I'll 
very  likely  catch  on,  if  you  don't  expect  too  much  at  first. 
I'm  a  kind  of  jack  of  all  trades  by  nature.'' 

They  had  arrived  at  a  four-story-and-a-basement  brick 
building,  exceedingly  rectangular  and  unornamental. 
with  many  plain  dirty  windows.  Up  from  the  basement 
came  the  thrashing  sound  of  numerous  printing  presses, 
and  at  the  back  was  the  intermittent  steamless  choo-choo 
of  a  gas-engine,  the  explosion  seeming  to  miss  a  beat  now 
and  then,  and  trying  to  make  up  for  it  by  two  almost 
simultaneous  puffs  afterward- 


"We  quarrel  in  print"  277 

They  walked  up  steps  into  a  dingy  hall,  then  opened  a 
door  to  the  right  that  gave  access  to  a  large  corner  room, 
the  walls  of  which  were  covered  with  posters  of  all  sizes, 
printed  in  every  colour  under  the  sun. 

Ramsay  asked  Maguire  to  take  a  chair  for  a  moment, 
but  the  newcomer  walked  round  the  room  studying  the 
wall  decorations  1'ke  a  tourist  in  a  picture  gallery.  The 
manager  drew  up  his  swivel-chair  to  his  large  desk  and 
plunged  into  the  mass  of  letters  and  proofs  which  had 
accumulated  during  his  brief  absence,  marking  sugges- 
tions, instructions  and  eliminations  with  a  blue  pencil  on 
various  sized  sheets  of  damp  newly-printed  paper,  keep- 
ing the  men  who  attended  to  him  on  the  run,  and  clear- 
ing off  his  desk  in  a  marvellously  short  space  of  time ;  a 
striking  instance  of  intense  application,  perfect  knowl- 
edge and  quick  decision.  When  the  last  messenger  had 
gone  he  wheeled  round  in  his  chair,  and  speaking  with  a 
crispness  that  had  been  entirely  lacking  in  his  former 
conversation,  he  gave  Maguire  some  curt  information,  to 
which  the  latter  listened  with  more  of  comprehension  than 
might  have  been  expected  from  an  amateur. 

After  their  conference  they  went  over  the  works  to- 
gether, Ramsay  introducing  his  new  assistant  to  the  head 
of  this  department  and  that,  all  the  men  looking  furtively 
and  curiously  at  the  stranger,  who  for  once  kept  silence. 

It  was  next  day  that  the  first  symptom  of  coming 
trouble  appeared.  The  foreman  of  the  composing-room 
entered  the  manager's  office  with  a  bundle  of  proofs. 

"  Mr.  Ramsay,"  he  said,  "  this  new  man  doesn't  seem 
to  know  anything  about  printing/' 

"  No?  Well,  Brown  knew  a  good  deal  about  printing, 
but  he's  in  the  hospital  just  the  same." 

"  I'm  sorry  he  got  hurt.  I  hope  you  don't  think  the 
composing-room  had  a  hand  in  it,  Mr.  Ramsay." 

"  Oh,  I  know  they  hadn't.  Nobody  in  the  works  did  a 
thing  to  him.  They  all  told  me  that." 

"  The  men  thought,  Mr.  Ramsay,  that  when  Brown 
left  you'd  perhaps  promote  some  one  inside  to  his  place. 
I  don't  think  they  like  a  stranger  coming.in." 

"I'm  sorry  for  that.     To  tell  the  truth,  you're  all  so 


278  The  Victors 

efficient  in  your  own  places  that  I  don't  care  to  disturb  the 
present  state  of  things.  It's  easier  to  get  an  assistant 
from  the  outside  than  to  get  a  good  man  for  any  of  the 
other  departments." 

"  Yes.  But  still,  don't  you  think,  Mr.  Ramsay,  that 
an  assistant  ought  to  know  something  of  the  business? 
It's  demoralising  to  men  who  are  experts  to  have  one 
over  them  who  doesn't  know  an  em  quad  from  an  ink- 
roller." 

"  I  think  you'll  find  Maguire  will  pick  up  knowledge 
pretty  fast.  What  you  say  is  true  enough  in  works  not 
as  well  organised  as  ours,  but  here,  where,  as  you  say, 
every  man's  an  expert,  I  thought  it  wouldn't  so  much 
matter.  Then  you  see,  I've  to  look  to  the  outside.  Ma- 
guire's  a  good  talker — '' 

"  O,  he  talks  enough." 

"  Precisely ;  so  I  thought  after  he  had  picked  up  a  bit 
of  knowledge  he  might  go  ou  and  drum  for  orders, 
when  trade  gets  a  bit  slack.  In  these  times  of  keen  com- 
petition and  cut  prices  a  canvasser  is  all  the  better  of 
knowing  what  he's  talking  about.  Then  he  doesn't  bring 
in  orders  that  we  lose  money  on." 

"  How  soon  do  you  expect  to  send  him  out,  Mr. 
Ramsay?" 

"  That  depends.  Of  course  the  whole  thing  is  an  ex- 
periment. Maguire  may  not  do  at  all.  I  shouldn't  like 
this  to  get  to  him,  but  I  have  serious  doubts  about  his 
suitability.  He  seems  to  have  the  devil's  own  temper. 
Yesterday  afternoon  at  the  dropping  of  a  hat  he  knocked 
Mike  Rafferty  into  the  middle  of  next  week.  It  was 
just  like  that" — Ramsay  smashed  his  hands  together. 
"  One  saucy  word  from  Rafferty,  and  biff,  baff — Mike 
was  on  the  floor  before  you  could  wink.  Never  saw  any- 
thing like  it  outside  a  prize  ring." 

"  I  heard  about  that.  Oh,  he's  the  man,  is  he  ?  "  The 
foreman  showed  keen  and  newly  awakened  interest. 
"  Didn't  Mike  hit  back  ?  He's  a  handy  mat)  with  his 
fists." 

"  Hit  back !  He  had  all  he  could  do  to  keep  from  s\va]~ 
lowing  his  teeth,  Mike  was  dazed,  and  I'll  bet  you  his 


"We  quarrel  in  print"  279 

head's  ringing  yet.  Maguire  was  quite  willing  to  take 
on  everyone  that  was  in  the  saloon,  offering  to  put  them 
all  in  the  street,  with  the  policeman  on  top  of  them. 
There  were  a  dozen  or  more  of  Rafferty's  heelers  with 
him,  and  not  one  dared  to  raise  a  hand.  Mike  felt  like  a 
spring  lamb  that  had  been  through  a  railway  accident, 
and  had  enough  of  it.  To  tell  the  truth,  I  have  my 
doubts  about  Maguire's  being  here  very  long,  for  he's 
no  Job,  and  a  man  requires  patience  in  the  printing  busi- 
ness." 

But  in  this  surmise  the  manager  proved  to  be  entirely 
wrong.  Maguire  not  only  picked  up  the  tricks  of  the 
trade  with  amazing  celerity,  but  became  extremely  pop- 
ular with  all  the  men. 

He  wrote  long  letters  to  a  girl  in  Michigan,  giving 
glowing  accounts  of  his  new  position  and  the  splendour 
and  the  lucrativeness  of  it,  until  in  that  district  it  was 
supposed  that  the  young  man  had  become  a  sort  of  syn- 
dicate for  the  editing  of  all  the  leading  New  York  papers. 
There  was  even  some  truth  in  his  letters,  but  the  atoms 
were  surrounded  by  such  a  halo  of  imagination  that  it 
might  have  been  difficult  to  recognise  them.  He  was 
picturing  himself  as  he  wished  to  be  and  as  he  intended 
to  be,  making  thereby  large  drafts  on  the  roseate  future. 
Life  would  not  be  worth  living  were  it  not  for  its 
dreams,  and  dreams  sometimes  come  true.  Why  should 
they  not  in  his  case,  thought  Patrick  Maguire,  as  he 
wrote  to  the  girl  in  Michigan,  painting  himself  as  he 
wished  her  to  see  him. 


CHAPTER    III 

"  BUT  HE,  SIR,  HAD  THE  ELECTION  " 

WHEN  Greek  met  Greek  there  came  a  tug  of  war  in 
ancient  times,  but  when  politician  meets  politician  in  a 
primary,  modern  pugilism  gets  its  chance. 

Mike  Rafferty  was  taken  entirely  unaware,  for  never 
before  in  that  district  had  there  been  the  slightest  oppo- 
sition to  the  Tammany  slate.  When  the  primary  con- 
vened, one  night  in  Doolan's  saloon,  the  boss  of  the  street- 
cleaning  gang  was  as  sure  of  his  nomination  to  the  office 
of  alderman  as  he  was  that  he  would  drink  much  beer  to 
celebrate  be  event.  The  primary  was  supposed  to  give 
effect  to  the  wish  of  a  majority  of  voters  who  belonged 
Jo  the  democratic  party  in  the  hundredth  ward,  but  the 
nominations  had  all  been  prepared  long  before ;  the  slate 
was  cut  and  dried,  if  such  a  phrase  can  be  used  regarding 
slates.  The  strife  between  Rafferty  and  Grady  had  been 
adjusted,  Grady  getting  a  political  justiceship,  and  there 
was  nothing  to  do  now  but  go  through  the  motions  of 
a  farce,  carried  out  with  that  solemnity  and  decorum 
which  are  the  true  elements  of  humour  in  any  farce.  Ma- 
guire  had  no  erroneous  confidence  that  the  path  he  had 
marked  out  for  himself  was  an  easy  one.  He  knew  the 
weapons  of  surprise  and  speed  were  his  dependence.  He 
kept  well  in  the  background,  while  the  delegation  from  the 
printing  works  and  elsewhere,  enthusiastically  solid  for 
him,  pressed  into  the  suffocating,  smoke-filled  room.  If 
they  got  their  chairman  elected,  which  might  happen 
should  the  Rafferty  men  be  caught  napping,  then  they 
would  nominate  the  entire  Tammany  ticket,  with  the 
single  exception  that  the  name  Patrick  Maguire  would  be 
substituted  for  the  name  of  Michael  Rafferty.  Of  course 
there  would  be  a  row,  but  once  get  the  slate  regularly 
280 


"But  he,  sir,  had  the  election"         281 

chosen  and  the  meeting  broken  up,  the  chiefs  of  the  city 
would  have  some  qualms  about  reversing  the  action  of  a 
regularly  constituted  primary,  even  if  they  didn't  get  the 
alderman  they  wanted.  They  might  drop  Rafferty  and 
give  him  something  else,  but  in  any  case  the  heads  would 
have  to  come  to  terms  with  Maguire  or  risk  a  local  split 
in  the  party,  which  on  many  accounts  was  a  thing  to  be 
avoided. 

So  the  Maguire  slate  was  also  cut  and  dried,  and  the 
Maguire  forces  were  under  his  own  personal  leadership, 
while  Grady  was  to  command  the  Rafferty  cohorts  so  as 
to  give  the  pleasant  effect  of  a  union  of  hearts  before  a 
critical  public,  for  the  Grady-Rafferty  disagreement  had 
occupied  some  space  in  the  papers  for  a  while  past.  It 
had  been  suggested  that  Rafferty  should  stay  away,  and 
afterward  receive  the  nomination  with  that  surprise 
which  is  so  charmingly  becoming  when  the  office  unex- 
pectedly seeks  the  man ;  but  whether  it  was  that  Mike  was 
too  seasoned  a  politician  to  allow  his  backers  to  act  ex- 
cept under  his  own  eye,  or  whether  his  distrust  of  Grady 
was  not  as  much  allayed  as  his  own  party  papers  said  it 
was,  Mike  was  present,  although  Grady  was  more  prom- 
inently to  the  fore.  Grady  called  the  primary  to  order 
and  asked  it  to  be  good  enough  to  propose  and  to  second 
a  chairman. 

"  I  nominate  Mr.  Day,  foreman  of  the  typesetters  at 
the  New  Amstel  works,  well  known  to  us  all,  to  be  chair- 
man of  this  meeting,"  cried  one. 

"  Second  the  motion,"  shouted  several  from  different 
parts  of  the  room. 

Grady  glanced  at  the  paper  he  held  in  his  hand  and 
seemed  puzzled,  but  Rafferty  sprang  instantly  to  his 
feet,  and  from  that  moment  took  the  lead. 

"  Hold  on!  Hold  on!  "  he  cried.  "  Day's  a  black  re- 
publican. This  is  a  put-up  job  to  overturn  the  wishes  of 
the  people.'' 

"  You're  a  liar !  Day's  as  good  a  democrat  as  you  are, 
and  better.  We're  not  the  street-cleaning  gang !  " 

"  I  move  Bob  Moriarty." 

"  Second  it !    Second  it !  " 


282  The  Victors 

"  All  in  favour  of  Mr.  Moriarty,  a  Tammany  man  in 
good  standing,''  cried  Rafferty. 

"  He  won't  have  good  sitting  in  that  chair.    You  can't 
elect  him!     Demand  the  ayes  and  nays!"     (Great  con 
fusion)  as  the  papers  say  in  brackets. 

"  I  declare  Robert  Moriarty  elected  chairman  of  this 
meeting.  Mr.  Moriarty,  take  the  chair." 

The  Moriartyites  were  in  a  visible  minority,  and  this 
decision  was  fraudulent,  rankly  fraudulent ;  neverthe- 
less Moriarty,  a  determined-looking  man.  came  forward, 
while  messengers,  receiving  whispered  instructions  from 
Rafferty,  squeezed  through  the  seething  crowd  to  the 
door  and  ran  for  help.  It  was  Rafferty's  game  to  fight  for 
time,  and  the  chairman  began  to  read  something  that 
could  not  be  heard  in  the  uproar.  His  elocution,  how- 
ever, was  speedily  cut  short,  for  the  powerful  Maguire 
shouldered  himself  forward  from  his  retirement  and 
flung  the  astonished  chairman  among  the  crowd. 

"  Fair  play !  Fair  play  !  "  roared  Maguire.  "  All  in 
favour  of  Moriarty  hold  up  the  right  hand.'' 

The  Rafferty  party  disdained  to  vote ;  they  saw  the 
hour  for  fighting  had  arrived. 

"  Contrary — Moriarty's  defeated !  John  Day  takes 
the  chair !  " 

But  Day  didn't.  It  was  now  a  free-for-all  combat. 
Maguire  did  Trojan's  work  trying  to  get  in  a  blow  at 
Rafferty,  but  Pat  was  knocked  flat  with  a  section  of 
broken  cha'r.  He  forced  his  way  to  the  surface  again, 
tattered  and  bleeding,  roaring  like  a  maddened  bull.  If 
all  his  followers  had  been  as  powerful  and  combative  as 
himself  he  might  have  won  the  day,  but  the  resources  of 
politics  were  not  yet  exhausted,  and  Maguire  became 
aware,  like  a  man  in  a  nightmare,  that  a  new  element  had 
intervened.  The  blue-coated  police  had  taken  a  hand  in. 
They  were  laying  about  them  with  their  batons,  and  the 
clubs  were  not  hitting  the  heads  of  the  Rafferty  men. 
The  game  was  up,  and  Maguire  knew  it. 

"  Break  away !  "  he  shouted. 

"  Seize  that  man ! "  yelled  Rafferty,  pointing  to  Ma- 
guire. "  He's  the  leader.  He  tried  to  break  up  a  peace- 
able, law-abiding  meeting." 


"  But  he,  sir,  had  the  election  "        283 

The  police  clove  their  way  toward  Maguire,  who 
wrenched  the  baton  away  from  the  foremost  of  the  force, 
and  struck  the  revolver  from  the  hand  of  that  officer 
when  he  drew  it.  The  big  window  had  been  smashed, 
and  Magu're,  watching  his  opportunity,  sprang  through 
the  opening,  bringing  a  fresh  clatter  of  glass  with  him, 
and  so  away  down  the  street,  eluding  his  pursuers,  and 
reaching  his  own  room  uncaptured. 

Law  and  order  being  re-established  in  the  wrecked 
saloon,  Moriarty  took  the  chair  (what  was  left  of  it)  and 
the  Tammany  ticket  was  nominated  in  its  entirety. 

"  Disgraceful  attempt  to  break  up  a  peaceable  pri- 
mary," said  the  democratic  papers.  "  Foul  methods  of 
republican  roughs  foiled  by  the  police."  "  Another 
bloody  row  at  a  democratic  meeting,"  said  republican 
papers.  "  Tammany  crushes  free  speech  with  police- 
men's clubs." 

You  paid  your  pennies  and  took  your  choice  of  the 
lies. 

Maguire  found  it  necessary  to  go  off  to  the  country  for 
a  few  days.  "  You  leave  it  all  to  us/'  said  foreman  John 
Day,  "  and  lie  low.  We'll  see  you  through,  by  nom- 
inat'ng  you  on  the  republican  ticket,  and  after  that, 
they  won't  dare  touch  you,  or  everyone  will  say  that 
they  are  doing  it  because  you  are  an  opposition  candi- 
date." 

And  so  it  was.  Maguire  got  a  telegram  in  his  place  of 
retirement  up  in  the  lofty  and  now  nearly  deserted  Cats- 
kills  that  a  most  peaceable  republican  primary  had  been 
held,  the  city  republican  ticket  adopted,  with  the  name 
of  Patrick  Maguire  set  down  for  alderman  of  the 
hundredth  ward.  Maguire  and  his  backers  knew  there 
would  be  no  keen  competition  for  the  nomination  of  al- 
derman on  the  republican  ticket  in  that  ward,  for  such  a 
candidate  was  merely  put  up  to  be  knocked  down  in 
November. 

The  police  had  inquired  at  his  boarding  house  for  Ma- 
guire, and  also  at  the  printing-office.  No  one  knew  where 
he  was.  Ramsay  spoke  soothingly  to  the  force. 

"  I've  got  rid  of  that  young  man,"  he  said.    "  Politics 


284  The  Victors 

and  business  don't  mix,  so  I  told  him  I  could  have  noth- 
ing more  to  do  with  him." 

Nevertheless,  the  Tammany  committee  promptly  took 
the  democratic  printing  away  from  the  Xew  Amstel  firm, 
which  was  a  blow  against  its  prosperity.  Ramsay  him- 
self went  to  see  them  about  it,  but  the  chairman  said 
bluntly  that  they  took  care  of  their  friends,  and  that  the 
whole  opposition  of  the  primary  had  been  traced  to  the 
New  Amstel  works. 

"  I  believe  that  is  true,"  said  Ramsay,  "  but  it  was  all 
on  account  of  Maguire,  and  I've  discharged  him.  Be- 
tween ourselves,  I've  always  voted  the  straight  demo- 
cratic ticket,  and  so,  I  think,  have  most  of  the  men.  But 
we  take  care  of  our  friends,  too,  and  if  we  have  all  the 
republican  printing  and  none  of  the  democratic,  well, 
you're  going  to  lose  some  votes  in  this  precinct." 

"  We  can  spare  them,"  said  Grady. 

"  True,  you  can  spare  them  in  the  precinct,  and  in  the 
ward,  but  you  need  all  you  can  get  in  the  city  and  the 
state." 

"  Oh,  the  city's  all  right." 

"  Well,  it's  hard  to  punish  us  because  one  of  our  men 
happens  to  turn  out  an  obstreperous  politician,  especially 
as  I  sacked  him  the  minute  I  found  it  out." 

"  We  take  care  of  our  friends,''  reiterated  Grady. 

"  Then  you  want  us  to  be  your  enemies.  I  tell  you  what 
it  is,  Mr.  Grady,  when  this  gets  out,  Rafferty  will  be  cer- 
tain of  what  he  has  strong  suspicions  already,  which  is 
that  you  want  to  knife  him  quietly  if  you  get  a  chance." 

"  Rafferty  knows  better  than  that." 

"  Indeed  he  doesn't,  and  when  you  turn  down  a  factory 
having  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  voters  in  it  I 
confess  it  looks  to  me  as  if  there  was  something  in  his 
distrust." 

"  It's  Rafferty  himself  that  insisted  the  printing  should 
be  taken  away  from  you.  I  don't  care  who  does  the  work. 
See  Rafferty,  and  if  he's  willing  to  give  you  the  printing 
I  am." 

At  that  moment  Rafferty  came  in,  and  nodded  sullenly 
to  the  manager.  Relations  between  the  two  men  had 
been  strained  since  the  knock-down  in  the  saloon. 


"  But  he,   sir,  had  the  election  "      285 

"  How  are  you,  Mr.  Rafferty?  I've  just  dropped  in  to 
see  the  committee  on  the  printing".  It's  like  this,  Mr. 
Rafferty.  I'm  not  responsible  for  Maguire,  and  I 
bounced  him  as  soon  as  I  heard  of  his  ruction  at  the 
primary.  I  haven't  seen  him  since." 

"  You  knew  the  kind  of  man  he  was  before  you  hired 
him." 

"  Well,  you  see,  I  wanted  someone  who  could  control 
the  men,  and  he  did  control  them,  but  not  in  the  way  I 
expected.  If  he  came  back  and  applied  for  his  old  job 
again,  and  I  refused,  there  would  be  a  riot  in  the  works 
when  the  men  found  it  out." 

"  It's  too  late  now.  The  printing's  given  to  Simson 
Brothers." 

"  Heavens  and  earth !  Rafferty,  Simson  Brothers  can't 
handle  it.  They  have  neither  the  machinery  nor  the  men  ; 
they're  paper-bag"  makers.  They  can't  do  banner  work 
on  the  one  hand,  nor  ticket  work  on  the  other,  and  get  it 
out  on  time.  I  know  what  election  printing  is.  There 
will  be  last  moment  changes,  and  then  you  will  be  flying 
round  for  God's  sake,  and  it  will  be  an  all-night  session 
in  the  press-room,  with  every  available  man  and  machine." 

"  Simson  Brothers  take  the  risk  of  that/ 

"  Pardon  me,  Mr.  Rafferty,  you  take  the  risk,  and  a 
mighty  big  risk,  too.  Suppose  you  have  no  tickets  on  the 
morning  of  the  seventh,  what  good  are  they  going  to  do 
you  on  the  morning  of  the  eighth  ?  " 

"  There's  plenty  of  other  places  to  get  printing  done  in 
New  York  besides  either  yours  or  Simsons'." 

"  Now,  Rafferty,  that  remark  shows  how  little  you 
know  about  the  printing  trade.  There  will  be  a  rush  in 
every  office  in  town.  You'll  get  plenty  of  printing  done 
the  day  after,  but  not  when  you  must  have  it.  Now, 
we've  always  delivered  orders  promptly  to  the  minute, 
and  you  know  I  won't  say  a  word  about  the  fact  that 
we've  over  two  hundred  and  fifty  voters  ;n  the  works." 

"  Oh,  you  can't  threaten  me,  Mr.  Ramsay.  I'll  be 
elected  in  sp:te  of  you  and  your  men,  and  when  I'm  al- 
derman it  will  be  a  sorry  day  for  you,  the  day  you  turned 
against  me." 


286  The  Victors 

"I  don't  threaten,  and  I'm  not  against  you.  It's  you 
who  are  doing  the  threatening." 

"  We'll  let  you  have  the  printing  next  year." 

"  There's  no  election  next  year." 

"  Well,  that's  the  best  I  can  do  for  you." 

With  this  Ramsay  had  to  be  contented,  and  when  he 
went  away  Rafferty  said  to  Grady : 

"  Learn  him  a  lesson,  blast  him!  Some  of  these  jays 
need  taking  down  a  bit." 

"  They  do  that,"  corroborated  the  chairman.  After  all, 
it  was  none  of  his  affair  if  Rafferty  caused  dissatisfac- 
tion in  this  voting  precinct,  and  the  ticket  was  sure  to  win' 
in  any  case.  The  hundredth  was  a  ward  certain  of  a 
pure  election ;  to  attempt  fraud  was  unnecessary  on  the 
part  of  the  democrats,  and  useless  on  the  part  of  the  re- 
publicans. When  Ramsay  reached  his  office  he  sent  a 
messenger  to  the  republican  candidate  for  alderman. 
Maguire  came  speedily  in  answer  to  the  summons,  and 
when  he  entered,  the  manager  locked  the  door. 

"  Well,  Pat,"  he  began,  "  you  can  come  on  here  again 
as  soon  as  you  like." 

:'  Then  you  didn't  get  the  printing?  " 

"  Not  a  scrap  of  it.    Rafferty  himself  refused  it." 

"  War  to  the  knife,  eh  ?  " 

"  And  the  knife  to  the  hilt." 

"  Who's  going  to  print  the  tickets  ?  " 

"  Simson  Brothers." 

"  I  know  some  of  the  fellows  there." 

"  It's  too  risky,  Pat,  my  boy.  If  you  expect  to  beat 
Rafferty  by  monkeying  with  the  tickets,  I  tell  you 
straight  you  have  not  the  ghost  of  a  show.  They're  up 
tc  all  these  dodges  themselves.  You  can't  teach  your 
grandmother  to  suck  eggs." 

"  Look  here,  Ramsay,  the  ease  of  the  trick  lies  in  tlie 
very  safety  of  this  district.  People  that  are  cock-sure  are 
careless." 

"  I  shouldn't  count  too  much  on  that,  if  I  were  you. 
The  work  at  the  primary  put  them  on  their  guard,  and 
Rafferty's  a  suspicious  man,  anyhow." 

"  All  I  want  is  a  chance  at  the  tickets  the  night  before 
election." 


"  But  he,  sir,  had  the  election  "        287 

"  It's  a  mighty  risky  business,  Pat,  and  I'm  not  sure 
but  Sing  Sing  is  at  the  end  of  it  if  you're  found  out." 

"  I'll  take  my  chance  on  that.  I  wonder  if  it  would  be 
any  good,  my  trying  to  get  on  at  Simsons'  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no ;  that  would  be  too  bald.  They'll  be  keeping 
their  eye  on  you,  and  even  if  Simsons  engaged  you, 
which  is  not  likely,  some  of  the  men  would  give  you  away. 
No,  I'll  tell  you  a  better  scheme  than  that.  Simsons  can't 
do  either  fine  or  fast  printing.  They  depend  on  getting  it 
done  elsewhere.  I  know  Jerry  Simson,  who  is  his  own 
manager.  We've  got  a  lot  of  coarse  printing  on  hand 
which  might  as  well  be  done  outside  as  here,  and  better. 
I'll  go  over  and  see  Jerry.  I'll  tell  nim  that  if  he  can 
oblige  us  by  taking  on  this  work  for  us  just  now,  I'll  drop 
anything  and  help  him  out  in  some  future  pinch.  He'll 
give  us  the  printing  of  the  tickets  sure,  for  he  has  no  fa- 
cilities for  doing  them.  Now  suppose  we  have  them, 
what's  your  plan?  Do  you  propose  to  print  in  the  name 
of  Patrick  Maguire  instead  of  Mike  Rafferty  after  proofs 
are  passed,  and  trust  the  committee  not  to  notice  ?  I  tell 
you  it  won't  work.  It's  sure  to  be  spotted. " 

"  Now,  Ramsay,  there  isn't  any  man  in  the  world  I'd 
give  myself  away  to  except  you,  for  I  don't  believe  in  too 
much  talking,  although  I  do  such  a  lot  of  it.  Voting  is 
light  in  the  forenoon ;  then's  when  the  respectable  ele- 
ment does  its  franchise  act,  hoping  there  won't  be  a 
dirty  crowd.  At  the  noon  hour  the  workmen  come  in,  and 
most  of  the  trades  are  going  to  shut  down  at  one  o'clock 
for  the  day,  so  the  hands  will  get  a  chance  at  the  ballot- 
box.  I'll  send  the  first  batch  of  tickets  to  Simsons'  the 
night  before,  and  they'll  send  them  on  that  evening  to  the 
committee  rooms,  where  they'll  be  examined,  and  first  lot 
will  be  all  right.  We'll  guarantee  Simsons  and  they'll 
guarantee  the  committee  that  the  tickets  will  be  in 
Grady's  hands  before  he  needs  them.  Rafferty  will  be 
out  working,  and  he  will  have  examined  the  first  instal- 
ment. On  the  next  lot  I'll  paste  over  Rafferty 's  name  my 
own  slip:  '  For  alderman,  Patrick  Maguire.'  I'll  not  do 
that  on  the  top  tickets,  nor  on  all  the  rest,  but  on  every 
second  or  third  one,  de  ye  see  ?  down  through  the  middle 


288  The  Victors 

of  the  bunch.  Then  we'll  just  have  to  risk  it.  They  may 
find  it  out  before  it's  too  late,  and  they  may  not.  If  they 
don't,  then  I'm  elected  alderman  for  the  one-hundredth 
ward." 

"  I  wonder  how  many  years  a  man  gets  for  that, 
Patrick?" 

"  I  dunno,  but  if  it  succeeds  it  will  be  worth  a  term  as 
the  old  woman  said." 

"  What  a  frightfully  dishonest  man  you  are,  Pat,  if 
you'll  excuse  me  offering  an  opinion." 

"  It's  not  dishonest  at  all.  I  had  a  clear  majority  at 
the  primary,  but  they  broke  our  heads  and  threw  us  out. 
The  nomination  was  mine,  but  they  robbed  me  of  it,  and 
nothing  could  be  done.  I  don't  kick ;  I  go  them  one  bet- 
ter if  I  can,  and  the  way  I  tell  you  is  the  only  way  I  can 
think  of  to  get  an  honest  man  into  the  city  hall.  The 
nomination  was  mine  by  rights,  and  if  it  hadn't  been 
stolen  from  me  wouldn't  I  have  been  elected  sure?  " 

"  Certain." 

"  Well,  then,  what  are  ye  talkin'  about  dishonesty  for?  *' 

"  Pat,  I'm  no  politician,  as  you  are  well  aware.  I'll 
not  register  nor  vote  this  election.  I'm  out  of  all  this." 

"  I  don't  want  you  to  lift  a  hand." 

"  No,  but  I'll  lift  a  foot.  I'll  go  on  tramp,  and 
it  strikes  me  that  November  would  be  a  lovely  time  for 
an  excursion.  I'm  off  on  a  little  vacation  to  the  south  on 
the  first  of  November ;  I  need  a  rest,  and  I'll  be  back  any 
time  between  the  twentieth  and  the  end  of  the  month. 
I'll  leave  you  in  charge." 

"  You  couldn't  do  better,  Ramsay,  and  I  hope  you'll 
have  a  good  time." 

Maguire  at  least  did  everything  he  could  to  command 
success,  whether  he  deserved  it  or  not.  He  had  the 
tickets  printed  on  exceptionally  thick  sheets,  and  his  own 
slips  done  on  exceptionally  thin  but  opaque  paper,  and  of 
exactly  the  same  tint  as  the  ticket  itself.  He  took  no  one 
into  his  confidence,  but  worked  alone  all  night  in  the 
manager's  office.  When  the  slight  moisture  required  in 
superimposing  his  own  name  over  that  of  Rafferty's 
dried,  he  ran  all  the  doctored  tickets  between  heavy 


"  But  he,  sir,  had  the  election  "       289 

rollers,  and  it  required  a  keen  eye  to  detect  those  that 
were  decorated  from  those  that  were  plain.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  the  fraud  was  not  even  suspected  until  election  night, 
when  the  counting  of  the  tickets  was  progressing,  and  it 
was  found  to  the  amazement  of  the  enumerators  that 
Rafferty  had  been  running  appallingly  behind  the  rest  of 
the  ticket,  on  account  of  the  heavy  "  scratching."  Even 
then  it  was  not  supposed  that  actual  illegality  had  been 
committed,  for  despite  his  being  up  all  night  in  the  man- 
ager's room,  manufacturing  bogus  tickets,  Maguire  was 
running  about  from  polling-place  to  polling-place  during 
election  day,  peddling  his  slips,  and  by  his  good-natured 
manner  and  glib  talk  was  actually  succeeding  in  getting 
many  to  accept  his  "  pasters,"  for,  as  he  told  them,  with 
more  truth  than  his  hearers  imagined  at  the  time,  their 
friendly  action  would  have  no  real  bearing  on  the  result. 

"  Of  course,"  he  said  nonchalantly,  "  no  republican  has 
any  chance  in  this  ward,  and  next  time  I  hope  to  be  on 
the  democratic  ticket  myself;  but  to  do  that,  I  want  to 
have  as  small  a  majority  against  me  as  possible ;  so,  if  ye 
give  me  a  bit  of  a  hand  in  a  pinch,  I'm  not  the  man  to 
forget  it." 

Grady  saw  that  if  Maguire  had  two  or  three  helpers 
as  good  as  himself  at  canvassing  and  flattering  and 
appealing  to  the  sympathies  of  the  electorate,  he  would 
run  Rafferty  hard,  so  he  passed  on  the  word  that 
there  was  to  be  no  "  splitting  "  for  sympathy.  "  Vote  the 
straight  ticket,"  was  the  cry,  but  Rafferty  himself  had  no 
fear,  and  could  not  help  snubbing  Grady  for  his  anxiety, 
which  was  a  tactical  mistake. 

The  splitting  necessitated  slow  counting,  and  it  was 
toward  midnight  before  it  became  evident  that  Rafferty 
was  hopelessly  defeated,  although  the  rest  of  the  ticket 
was  overwhelmingly  elected.  Strangely  enough,  not  for 
one  moment  did  Rafferty  suspect  the  real  cause  of 
his  discomfiture,  but  with  ungovernable  temper  jumped 
at  a  totally  wrong  conclusion,  and  began  to  pour 
truculent  abuse  upon  a  person  who,  whatever  his 
past  record,  had  loyally  adhered  to  a  bargain  made. 
A  deal  had  been  concluded;  a  trade;  Rafferty  had 
9 


290  The  Victors 

been  sold  by  his  friends;  Grady  was  the  traitor,  and 
his  very  warning  of  that  afternoon  proved'  his  guilt 
to  Mike  and  his  friends.  He  would  have  Grady 
drummed  out  of  the  party.  He  would  fight  him  to  a  fin- 
ish then  and  there.  Grady  said  nothing,  for  he  did  not 
know  what  to  say.  He  suspected  fraud  of  some  kind,  but 
there-  had  been  no  chance  for  Maguire  to  stuff  in  bogus 
ballots,  as  the  ballot-boxes  had  been  too  tightly  in  the 
grip  of  Tammany  for  any  but  themselves  to  do  that.  Raf- 
ferty's  violence  was  estranging  even  his  best  friends, 
and  Grady  was  advised  to  retire  quietly ;  Mike  would 
think  better  of  it  in  the  morning,  they  said.  As  chair- 
man of  the  committee  he  went  back  to  the  committee 
rooms,  the  altercation  having  taken  place  in  the  rear 
room  of  one  of  the  saloons  where  counting  was  going  on. 
Pondering  over  the  unexpected  result,  knowing  that  the 
ballot-box  was  prolific  of  surprises,  although  generally  its 
action  could  be  foretold  with  reasonable  certainty  in  New 
York,  he  took  from  a  drawer  the  surplus  ticktes  of  the 
day,  examining  them,  like  a  man  shuffling  cards,  for  in 
groping  after  an  explanation  of  the  outcome  his  mind, 
by  intuition,  turned  toward  some  tampering  with  the 
tickets,  rather  than  toward  any  change  in  the  expressed 
will  of  the  people.  Rafferty's  mind  would  have  acted  in 
precisely  similar  manner  had  it  not  been  for  his  deep  dis- 
trust of  Grady.  Suddenly  the  shuffler  paused  in  his 
shuffling  and  gazed  at  the  words  before  him,  "  For  alder- 
man, Patrick  Maguire,"  on  an  unused  ticket.  A  slight 
smile  parted  the  scrutiniser's  lips,  and  an  expression  of 
admiration  and  appreciation  came  into  his  keen  eyes.  He 
put  the  ticket  inside,  and  went  rapidly  over  the  papers  in 
the  packet,  every  now  and  then  throwing  out  one  of  the 
slips.  When  he  had  thus  assorted  the  white  and  black 
sheep  into  separate  herds,  he  rescanned  the  white  sheep 
with  vigilance,  to  make  sure  he  had  missed  none  of  the 
black.  The  decorated  tickets  he  put  carefully  into  his 
inside  pocket. 

The  returns  from  the  whole  city  were  now  coming  into 
the  committee  room,  and  were  eminently  satisfactory  to 
the  democratic  party,  with  the  single  exception  of  the 


"  But  he,  sir,  had  the  election  "        291 

slump  for  the  republican  alderman  in  the  hundredth 
ward.  The  committee  room  was  filling  up  rapidly,  and  a 
man  was  setting  forth  the  results  in  large  figures  on  the 
end  wall.  There  was  a  steady  roar  of  conversation, 
mostly  excited.  One  of  the  leaders  came  in  and  was 
greeted  with  a  cheer.  He  moved  through  the  crowd, 
nodding  here,  shaking  hands  there,  until  he  reached  the 
spot  where  the  chairman  stood. 

"  Hello,  Grady,  you've  given  us  a  little  surprise  in  the 
old  one-hundredth  to-night.  It's  the  talk  of  the  town,  so 
I  thought  I'd  come  down  and  hear  the  disgusting  partic- 
ulars. How  do  you  account  for  it  ?  " 

"  Oh,  it's  easy  enough  to  account  for.  This  Maguire  is 
a  very  popular  young  man.  He's  a  sort  of  sub-manager 
in  the  New  Amstel  printing  works,  and  the  men  there  are 
all  solid  for  him.  That  gave  him  a  good  start,  for  there 
must  be  three  hundred  voters  there,  that  otherwise  Raf- 
ferty  would  have  got.  Then  he  worked,  tooth  and  nail, 
from  the  opening  to  the  closing  of  the  polls — never  let  up 
for  a  minute.  I  warned  Rafferty  in  the  afternoon  the 
way  things  were  going,  but  he  wouldn't  pay  any  atten- 
tion. You  see  this  Maguire  came  within  an  ace  of  get- 
ting the  democratic  nomination  in  the  first  place.  You  re- 
member the  row  at  the  primary?" 

"Yes.     You  were  chairman,  weren't  you?" 

"  I  was  there  in  charge  till  they  elected  their  own 
chairman.  Maguire  was  in  the  real  majority;  there's  no 
doubt  about  that,  but  we  downed  him,  and  there  was  the 
devil's  own  row.  We'd  have  been  cleaned  out  if  it 
wasn't  for  the  police.  Well,  a  lot  of  the  voters  think  Ma- 
guire did  not  get  a  fair  show,  and  neither  did  he.  That 
accounts  for  another  part.  Then,  of  course,  I  don't  like 
to  say  anything  against  Rafferty,  for  he's  abused  me  like 
a  thief  to-night ;  I  don't  mind  that ;  every  one  knows  I 
did  my  best ;  still,  he  acts  with  others  the  same  way,  and 
offends  people  right  and  left.  There's  Ramsay,  for  in- 
stance, an  awfully  decent  fellow ;  always  voted  straight ; 
well,  Rafferty  took  the  printing  away  from  Ramsay's 
firm,  just  because  Maguire  worked  for  him,  although 
Ramsay,  right  in  this  room,  said  he'd  discharged  Ma- 


292  The  Victors 

guire.  Ramsay  dropped  a  good  broad  hint  about  the 
voters  in  his  employ,  but  Rafferty  wouldn't  listen  to  rea- 
son, and  now  Ramsay's  gone  off  on  a  vacation.  His  men 
see  he  takes  no  interest  in  the  thing-,  so  it's  vote  as  you 
please  in  that  establishment." 

"  Rafferty's  a  mug,''  said  the  leader.  "  When  he's 
down,  we'd  better  let  him  stay  down.  What  sort  of  a. 
fellow  is  this  Maguire  ?  " 

"  Well,  I've  seen  him  fight  at  a  primary  and  work  at 
an  election,  and  it's  my  opinion  that  he's  a  man  to  be 
reckoned  with.  If  Maguire  got  hold  of  the  republican 
organisation,  he'd  make  the  fur  fly." 

"  Say,  couldn't  you  have  a  quiet  talk  with  him  ?  He 
can't  be  too  nasty  particular  in  his  opinions  or  he 
wouldn't  try  to  grab  the  democratic  nomination  and  then 
secure  the  republican  nomination  all  within  a  week." 

"  I  guess  he's  all  right.  I'll  see  him  if  you  say  so, 
but  if  my  visit  comes  to  the  ears  of  Rafferty  he'll  swear 
it's  another  proof  of  my  treachery." 

"  Damn  Rafferty.  Don't  let  that  bother  you.  We 
must  have  Maguire  on  our  side  before  the  republicans  get 
hold  of  him.  I  suppose  they  haven't  helped  him  much  in 
this  contest  ?  " 

"  Not  a  bit,  as  far  as  I  could  see.    He  helped  himself.'"' 

The  leader  and  Grady  went  out  together.  The  com- 
mittee room  was  becoming  rather  noisy,  a  good  three- 
quarters  of  those  present  being  well  on  the  road  towards 
drunkenness.  The  two  parted  at  the  street  corner,  and 
Grady  went  to  the  nearest  telegraph  office  to  send  off 
some  messages.  The  first  man  he  saw  there  was  Ma- 
guire busily  writing  a  telegram.  Grady  stood  near  him 
and  incidentally  cast  an  eye  over  the  dispatch  the  young 
man  was  inditing.  Much  may  be  learned  by  casual 
glances  in  politics.  The  message  was  innocent  enough, 
and,  on  the  surface,  truthful.  It  was  addressed  to  a  Mr. 
Byfield  in  Michigan,  and  it  read : 

"  Patrick  Maguire  was  to-day  elected  alderman  of  the 
city  of  New  York  by  a  big  majority,  on  the  republican 
ticket." 

"  That'll  please  "em,"  he  muttered.  "  They're  all  re- 
publicans in  that  district." 


"  But  he,  sir,   had  the  election  "      293 

When  Maguire  had  filed  his  despatch,  he  turned,  and 
came  face  to  face  with  the  chairman  of  the  opposition 
committee. 

"  Allow  me  to  congratulate  you  on  your  surprising 
victory." 

"Oh,  it  isn't  the  first  time  I've  beaten  Mike  Rafferty," 
said  Pat,  with  easy  nonchalance. 

"  So  I  hear.    My  name's  Grady,  as  perhaps  you  know." 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  know.  You  knocked  me  out  in  the  primary. 
I  remember  you  well  enough." 

"  All's  fair  in  love,  war  and  politics,  you  know,  Mr. 
Maguire." 

"  Bless  you,  I  ain't  kicking — not  to-night.  If  you 
hadn't  knocked  me  out,  though,  there'd  be  one  more 
democratic  alderman  in  New  York  this  evening  than 
there  is." 

"  I  believe  you.  I'd  like  to  have  a  word  or  two  with 
you  in  private.  Would  you  mind  coming  up  to  my  rooms  ? 
They're  not  far  from  here,  and  I've  something  to  drink 
there.'' 

"  It's  a  little  late,  and  I've  had  a  hard  day's  work.  How 
would  to-morrow  do?  " 

"  Oh,  of  course.  It  is  a  little  tough  on  a  man  working 
all  day  and  being  up  all  night  the  night  before." 

"  The  night  before  ?  "  echoed  Maguire  taken  aback, 
"  I  don't  understand?" 

"  Oh,  yes,  you  do.     Come  on." 

"  You'll  have  to  excuse  me,  Mr.  Grady,  for  I'm  going 
home." 

"  You've  a  lot  more  sense  than  that,  alderman.  I've 
got  to  talk  with  somebody  about  the  winning  ticket,  and 
it  might  be  better  that  I  should  talk  with  you  than  com- 
plain to  the  authorities." 

"  I  dunno  what  you're  driving  at?" 

"  I  can't  very  well  explain  here.  This  is  one  of  the 
winning  tickets.  Do  you  recognise  it  ?  " 

Grady  took  from  his  pocket  a  pasted  ballot-paper,  and 
handed  it  to  the  new  alderman.  Maguire  looked  at  it 
for  a  moment. 

"Who's  up  in  your  rooms?"  he  asked. 


294  The  Victors 

"  I'm  all  alone.  There'll  be  nobody  there  but  me,  and 
I've  all  the  rest  of  the  counterfeit  tickets  in  my  pocket." 

"  All  right.     I'll  go  with  you." 

"  Good.  I'll  make  no  attempt  to  murder  you,  or  kidnap 
you." 

"  I'm  not  afraid.'' 

Grady's  flat  proved  to  be  a  most  comfortable  suite  of 
apartments.  The  room  into  which  he  brought  Maguire 
was  luxuriously  furnished,  and  although  already  well 
heated  by  steam,  its  owner  struck  a  match  and  applied 
it  to  a  coal  fire  laid  on,  thus  adding  a  cheerful  blaze  to  the 
illumination  of  the  lamps.  Maguire  threw  himself  into 
an  easy  chair,  which  the  politician  wheeled  round  for  him 
in  front  of  the  open  fire,  to  enjoy  the  warmth  after  the 
chilliness  of  the  air  outside.  "  What  will  you  have,  beer, 
whisky,  brandy  or  wine?  "  asked  Grady. 

"  I  don't  care  at  all,"  replied  Maguire,  suppressing  a 
yawn.  "  I'll  take  whatever  you  take." 

"  I  guess  a  sandwich  or  two  wouldn't  do  us  any  harm. 
I  can't  remember  whether  I've  had  lunch  or  dinner  to-day 
or  not,  but  my  appetite  seems  to  think  I  haven't.  Any- 
how, I'll  forage  and  see  what  I  have  in  the  shanty." 

Grady  set  out  some  bottles  and  glasses  on  ^:he  table, 
then  he  disappeared  for  a  time  and  returned  with  a  tray 
load  of  provisions.  ;'  Thank  heaven,  I've  found  some 
oysters.  Will  you  hi^ve  them  raw,  or  shall  I  cook  them  ?  " 

There  being  no  answer  he  looked  round  at  Maguire. 
His  legs  were  stretched  out  and  his  chin  was  sunk  on  his 
breast.  It  needed  no  second  glance  for  his  host  to  see 
that  the  young  man  was  in  a  sound  sleep.  Grady,  a 
cynical  smile  on  his  lips,  stood  on  the  hearth-rug  a  few 
moments  regarding  him :  "  That's  what  it  is  to  have  a 
clear  conscience,"  he  murmured  to  himself ;  then  aloud 
he  cried :  "  Hello,  alderman  !  Wake  up  and  vote.  Don't 
you  want  anything  to  eat  ?  " 

Patrick  pulled  himself  together  with  a  deep  sigh. 

"  Have  I  been  asleep?  "  he  asked,  blinking;  then,  with 
a  burst  of  confidence,  as  if  his  host  were  his  oldest  and 
dearest  friend,  instead  of  a  man  who  had  threatened  him 
with  prosecution  a  few  minutes  before,  he  added :  "  Say, 
Grady,  old  man,  I'm  done  right  out.'' 


"  But  he,  sir,  had  the  election  "       295 

"  I  see  you  are,"  said  the  hardened  politician,  his 
heart  warming  toward  his  guest.  "  Here's  a  cocktail  I 
can  recommend  to  put  new  life  into  you.  Then  draw  up  a 
chair  and  have  some  grub ;  after  that  I've  got  a  room  here 
for  you.  You're  not  going  home  at  this  hour  in  the 
morning." 

"  Lord,  I'd  be  satisfied  to  lie  right  down  on  the  floor. 
Say,  that  touches  the  spot,  doesn't  it?  Oh,  by  the  way, 
you  wanted  to  talk  to  me,  didn't  you?  Well,  now's  your 
chance,  before  I  drop  off  asleep  again.  Fire  away." 

"  Well,  it  was  only  about  sort  of  working  together,  you 
know.  The  republican  party  is  no  good  in  this  town. 
You've  elected  yourself  for  once,  but  you  can't  do  it 
again  on  the  republican  ticket." 

"  I  don't  want  to.  I  went  up  last  summer  to  see  the 
Boss,  but  he  had  no  use  for  me.  I  guess  he'll  listen  now, 
and  give  me  a  show.  I'm  going  to  drop  in  and  see  him  in 
a  day  or  two." 

"  Haven't  you  any  fear  your  election  will  be  over- 
turned?" 

"  Lord,  no !  Who  should  overturn  it  ?  Not  the  re- 
publicans, for  I'm  elected  on  their  ticket.  Not  the  demo- 
crats, for  I'm  ready  for  a  deal.  It's  as  straight  as  a 
string,  Grady ;  I  knew  it  would  be  all  right  if  you  didn't 
tumble  to  the  racket  before  the  polls  closed,  and  so  had 
time  to  stuff  the  boxes  and  count  me  out.  It's  too  late  to 
do  anything  now." 

Grady  laughed. 

"  You've  got  some  pretty  red-hot  ideas  about  the  way 
elections  are  carried  on  in  New  York.  We  don't  stuff 
ballot-boxes  nowadays." 

"  I  did.'' 

Again  Grady  laughed.  There  was  an  original  frankness 
about  the  villainy  of  his  new  acquaintance  that  was  re- 
freshing. 

"  How  did  you  get  at  the  t'ckets?  " 

"  Bless  you,  I  printed  'em ;  that's  why  the  paper's  so 
thick,  so  the  pasting  wouldn't  show.  Ramsay  told  you 
Simson  couldn't  .do  the  tickets." 

"  Did  he?  I'd  forgotten." 


296  The  Victors 

"  Was  there  many  of  the  wrong  ones  left?  " 

"  Not  very  many ;  here's  the  bunch." 

Grady  drew  the  packet  from  his  pocket  and  threw  it 
on  the  table.  Maguire  examined  them  with  thoughtful 
interest. 

"  No  wonder  Rafferty  got  a  dose,  if  that's  all  that's 
left  over.  Sure  you  didn't  overlook  any  in  the  committee 
room,  Grady?  " 

"  Quite  sure." 

"  Then,  let's  call  it  square,"  said  Maguire,  w:th  a  grin, 
as  he  tossed  the  accumulation  of  tickets  on  the  open  fire, 
where  they  burst  into  a  blaze  that  had  almost  the  effect  of 
an  explosion. 

Grady  made  no  effort  to  recover  his  evidence,  but 
leaned  back  in  his  chair  and  roared. 

"  I  say,  Maguire,  you're  a  cool  hand  for  a  youngster. 
You'll  either  land  in  the  state's  chair  as  governor,  or  in 
the  state's  prison  as  convict.  You  forget  that  some  of  our 
canvassers  have  bunches  of  these  tickets  in  their  pockets, 
and  that  any  one  of  them  may  stumble  on  the  slips." 

"  Not  much  chance  of  that,  Grady.  A  ticket's  only 
waste  paper  when  the  poll's  closed.  No,  where  the  real 
danger  lies  is  in  this.  An  examination  of  the  ballot-box 
would  show  which  I  had  pasted  and  which  had  been 
pasted  by  my  friends.  I  had  to  do  it  pretty  slick,  so  that 
you  folks  that  were  handling  the  ticKets  wouldn't  catch 
on.  I  sort  of  supercalendered  the  bogus  tickets,  as  we 
say  in  the  trade.  I  knew  there  was  danger  in  my  peddling 
the  tickets,  for  there  was  bound  to  be  a  difference  between 
the  genuine  pasters  and  the  green  goods  your  men  were 
shoving  into  the  box,  but  I  had  to  hustle  round,  so's  to 
account  for  the  scratching  when  the  count  came  on.  I 
tell  you,  a  man  has  to  look  sixteen  ways  for  Sunday  on 
election  day.  But  if  it  was  all  to  be  done  over  again  I'd 
risk  beat'ng  Rafferty  on  the  straight  legitimate.  Gi'  me 
two  weeks  before  election,  and  I'd  snow  him  under." 

"  I  guess  you're  about  right.  When  I  run  for  mayor 
of  New  York  I'd  like  you  to  manage  the  campaign." 

"  I'll  do  it,  Grady,  and  land  you  there  with  the  biggest 
majority  ever  counted." 


"  But  he,  sir,  had  the  election  "        297 

"  Then  I  may  take  it.  you're  going  to  work  with  us?" 
"  You  bet !     I  intended  that  from  the  first." 
"  That's  all  right.    There's  no  more  to  be  said.     Now 
I'd  like  to  give  a  little  supper  up  here  some  night  and 
introduce  you  to  Bradley  and  a  few  of  the  leaders,  on 
the  quiet,  you  know.     Of  course,  to  outsiders,  you're  a 
republican.     Any  objection? " 
"  Certainly  not.     Delighted/' 

"  Enough  said.    I  see  you  want  to  get  to  bed,  so  come 
along,  and  I'll  show  you  your  room." 


CHAPTER    IV 

"  SACK   GREAT  ROME   WITH   ROMANS  " 

THE  little  dinner  which  Mr.  Grady  gave  in  honour 
of  Patrick  Maguire  was  a  great  success  from  whatever 
point  it  may  be  viewed.  The  table  was  spread  in  the 
dining-room  of  Grady's  flat,  for  in  that  apartment 
talk  could  be  more  free  than  at  even  the  most  ex- 
clusive restaurant  or  hotel ;  besides  there  were  many 
newspaper  men  prowling  about  the  town  seeking  what 
innocent  politician  they  might  devour,  and  it  was  per- 
haps, as  well  to  keep  from  their  knowledge  the  fact 
that  the  chiefs  of  the  democratic  party  were  drinking,  in 
prime  champagne,  the  health  of  the  latest  elected  repub- 
lican alderman.  Grady  graced  the  head  of  the  table,  with 
Maguire  at  his  right  hand  and  the  Boss  of  New  York  him- 
self on  his  left.  Down  the  table  were  half  a  dozen  of  the 
men  who  ruled  the  huge  city.  The  choice  eatables  were 
sent  in  from  a  neighbouring  restaurant  which  was  fam- 
ous, and  they  might  have  been  prepared  in  the  next  room, 
so  perfect  was  the  service.  The  small  party  was  deftly 
waited  upon  by  Grady's  own  man,  an  English  butler,  one 
who  knew  his  business  thoroughly ;  a  porson  of  illimitable 
silence,  with  a  prophetic  instinct  which  led  him  to  antici- 
pate the  wants  of  a  guest  when  the  desire  was  only  half 
formulated  in  the  guest's  mind.  The  imperturbability  of 
his  clean-shaven  face  was  never  disturbed,  and  the  fun- 
niest stories  were  told  in  his  presence  with  no  more  effect 
on  his  impassive  countenance  than  if  they  had  been  re- 
lated to  the  Sphinx.  The  slightest  glance  from  his  master 
was  translated  into  the  required  action  by  the  man,  with 
an  accuracy  which  might  scarcely  have  been  expected  to 
follow  verbal  instructions.  Grady  was  justly  proud  of 
this  servant.  The  new  world  was  redressing  the  injus- 
298 


"  Sack  great  Rome  with  Romans  "      299 

tice  of  the  old ;  the  Saxon  was  the  humble  servitor  of  the 
proud  Celt.  , 

The  Boss  talked  little  and  drank  sparingly,  but  none 
of  the  other  guests,  except  Maguire,  followed  this  tem- 
perate example.  They  talked  more  and  more  excitedly  as 
the  meal  went  on,  and  sometimes  seemed  to  trench  on 
affairs  which  cooler  men  would  have  discussed  in  secret, 
on  which  occasions  the  Boss  seemed  uneasy,  and,  although 
he  never  said  anything,  he  cast  a  glance  now  and  then  at 
the  chairman,  if  the  host  might  be  so  called,  and  Grady, 
with  ready  wit,  drew  a  red  herring  across  the  trail  of 
injudicious  controversy.  He  recognised  that  it  was  not 
well  to  let  Maguire  too  deeply  into  the  secrets  of  the  con- 
clave, until  they  knew  more  of  his  intentions,  and  until  he 
was  more  thoroughly  one  of  them.  However,  Maguire 
did  not  appear  to  understand  what  was  said,  and  gave 
no  signs  of  his  customary  alertness  of  mind. 

When  the  meal  was  finished,  cigars  lit  and  the  coterie 
left  to  themselves  by  the  impassive  servitor  who  waited 
on  them,  the  Boss  had  some  talk  across  the  table  with 
Maguire,  Grady  throwing  in  a  quiet  word  now  and  then. 

"  You've  started  well,  Mr.  Maguire,"  remarked  the 
'Boss. 

"  I  can't  say  that  I  did.  Mr.  Bradley,"  replied  Patrick 
affably.  "  You  seemed  to  think  all  I  was  fit  for  was  to 
go  on  the  street-cleaning  gang,  and  when  I  thried  for 
to  show  that  I  might  be  of  use  at  a  democratic  primary, 
me  friend  Grady  here  threw  me  out." 

"  It  was  Rafferty  did  that,"  submitted  Grady ;  "  but 
you  had  your  revenge  on  him  at  the  polls." 

"  I  had  that.  By  the  mighty  will  of  the  people,  I 
turned  the  rascal  out,  as  the  saying  goes,"  and  Maguire 
winked  at  Grady. 

"  I  never  thought  much  of  Rafferty,"  continued  the 
Boss ;  "  he  depends  more  on  his  mouth  than  on  his  brains. 
But  now  that  Rafferty's  out  of  it,  would  you  like  to  have 
charge  of  the  street-cleaning  gang  yourself?" 

"  I  was  just  complaining  that  I  had  been  sent  there 
once  too  often  before." 

"  Oh,  yes,"  put  in  Grady ;  "  but  it's  a  different  thing 


3oo  The  Victors 

going  there  as  head  of  the  precinct  to  going  there  and 
handling  a  shovel.'' 

"  Oh,  true  enough ;  but  I'm  a  different  man  from  what 
called  on  the  Boss  at  the  time  I  speak  of.  Then  I  was 
Pat  Maguire  of  Nowhere-at-all ;  now  I'm  Mr.  Maguire, 
alderman  of  the  city  of  New  York." 

"  What  is  it  you  want  ?  "  inquired  the  Boss  gravely. 

"  I  want  something  general,  not  local,  Mr.  Bradlev. 
I  want  something  that  will  take  me  all  over  the  city.  It's 
an  interesting  town,  and  I  "would  like  to  study  it.  If 
there's  a  little  salary  belonging  to  the  place,  just  enough 
for  a  quiet  man  to  -live  on  and  give  a  dinner  like  this  now 
and  then  to  his  friends,  why,  I'm  not  the  boy  to  make 
any  kick  against  that.'' 

"  You  see,  Mr.  Maguire,  our  difficulty  is  this :  all  the 
large  offices  are  rilled,  and,  indeed,  so  are  the  small  ones  as 
well.  You've  downed  Mike  Rafferty,  and  so  I  thought  it 
was  only  fair  that  you  should  have  his  job.  There  could 
be  no  row  on  that  score.  But  to  put  some  well-known 
man  out  of  a  place  and  put  you  in,  you  see  yourself  there 
would  be  trouble,  especially  as  you  are  such  a  newcomer, 
without  any  particular  following." 

"  I  had  particular  following  enough  to  elect  me  alder- 
man of  the  hundredth  ward."  As  Maguire  said  this  he 
looked  keenly  at  the  Boss.  The  latter,  however,  showed 
no  sign  of  being  aware  that  the  following  was  a  mythical 
one,  so  Grady  had  evidently  not  said  anything  of  his 
post-election  discovery.  As  Maguire  glanced  at  his  host 
there  was  a  slight  smile  on  Grady 's  lips,  and  a  slight 
lowering  of  the  eyelid. 

"  I  think,"  said  Grady  quietly,  "  there  is  not  much  use 
in  discussing  followings.  The  better  plan  would  be  for 
Mr.  Maguire  to  say  what  would  suit  him ;  then  we  could 
see  what  might  be  done." 

"You  want  me  to  help  you  out?"  cried  Maguire.     "I'll 
do  that  with  pleasure,  as  the  old  woman  said.     I  would 
like  to  be  made  inspector  of  fire-escapes." 
'  There's  no  such  office,"  replied  the  Boss. 

"  That's  just  the  beauty  of  me  proposal.  There's  no- 
body to  be  thrown  out  or  offended.  I'm  not  shoving  any- 


"  Sack  great  Rome  with  Romans  "      301 

body  to  the  wall.  Let  the  office  be  invinted,  for  there  is 
a  law  recomindin'  fire-escapes — 

"  Which  no  one  pays  any  attention  to,"  interrupted 
Grady. 

"  All  the  more  reason  for  the  appointment  of  an  in- 
spector." 

"  I'm  afraid  the  papers  would  jump  on  us  for  providing 
unnecessary  places  for  our  men,"  demurred  the  Boss. 

"  On  the  strict  contrary,  Mr.  Bradley.  You  can  do 
this  thing  with  a  flourish  that  will  bring  even  the  oppo- 
sition to  your  side.  Let  me  write  out  your  announcement, 
and  I'll  bring  tears  to  the  eyes  of  New  York  be  the  talk 
I'll  give  them  about  the  saving  of  life  and  limb,  and  the 
care  ye're  taking  of  the  poor  creatures  that  live  in  these 
tall  buildings.  Then  we'll  run  in  some  guff  about  the 
non-partisanship  of  such  an  important  place,  and  ye'll 
appoint  the  republican  alderman  to  it.  If  that  doesn't 
melt  the  heart  of  the  New  York  Try-bune,  I  dunno  what'll 
do  it.  The  minute  you  appoint  me  to  the  office  I'll  resign 
the  aldermanship,  an'  ye  can  elect  who  ye  please.  It's 
all  as  straight  as  a  string,  and  don't  ye  forget  it." 

"  How  about  the  salary?  We're  just  in  on  a  platform 
of  strict  economy,  if  you  remember." 

"  I  had  forgotten,  an'  I  don't  know  that  anyone  else 
in  the  city  of  New  York  remembers  it  but  yerself,  Mr. 
Bradley,  which  shows  what  an  iligent  memory  ye  have. 
Well,  economy's  our  strong  point.  Make  the  place  a 
thousand  dollars  a  year,  say,  an'  let  it  go  at  that." 

"  You  can't  live  in  New  York  on  a  thousand  dollars  a 
year,  Maguire,"  warned  Grady. 

"  Oh,  yes,  ye  can,  under  an  economical  administration. 
Retrinchment  and  reform,  and  that  sort  of  thing.  I've 
lived  on  less,  Mr.  Grady." 

"  Well,  if  you're  satisfied,  I  think  that's  a  mighty  good 
way  out.  What  do  you  say,  Mr.  Bradley?  " 

"  We'll  make  it  two  thousand  at  least,  otherwise  the 
papers  will  say  that  we  gave  it  to  the  republicans  because 
it  was  not  worth  any  Tammany  man's  having  it.  We 
will  look  on  that  as  settled,  Mr.  Maguire." 

And  then  with  a  sigh  of  relief  the  Boss  of  New  York 


3O2  The  Victors 

rose  to  his  feet.  He  had  found  the  new  man  not  only 
moderate  in  his  desires,  which  was  an  uncommon  char- 
acteristic of  applicants,  but  possessing  a  fertile  resource- 
ful mind  as  well,  showing  a  way  out  yet  offending  no- 
body ;  a  most  desirable  consummation  in  politics.  The 
rising  of  Mr.  Bradley  broke  up  the  dinner-party, although 
some  of  the  guests  showed  an  incl'nation  to  stay  and  do 
further  justice  to  the  liquors  of  their  host.  At  last  Grady 
and  Maguire  were  left  alone  together,  for  the  latter  was 
again  to  spend  the  night  in  the  flat. 

Grady  poked  up  the  fire  and  sat  down  in  an  easy  chair, 
opposite  h's  guest. 

"  Now,  thank  goodness,"  he  said,  "  we  can  take  a  drink 
without  being  afraid  our  tongues  will  run  away  with  us. 
Maguire,  I  must  confess  I  don't  understand  you.  To- 
night was  your  opportunity.  The  Boss  expected  to  be 
looted  and  was  prepared  to  agree  to  almost  any  demand 
you  might  make  on  him, yet  you  ask  a  beggarly  thousand 
a  year,  and  he's  so  astonished  that  he  gives  you  two 
thousand,  doubling  your  call,  a  thing  I  never  knew  him 
to  do  in  his  life  before." 

"  Grady,  you're  a  good  fellow,  and  unless  I'm  a  Dutch- 
man, an'  my  accent  would  hardly  lead  ye  to  believe  that 
same,  you  an'  me'll  be  in  many  a  stiff  fight  before  we 
die." 

"  Not  against  each  other,  I  hope." 

"  I  hope  not,  and  I  think  not.  I  have  seen  to-night  the 
men  that  rule  this  big  city,  an'  there's  only  one  of  the  lot 
I  admire  a  little  bit." 

"  Bradley  is  a  good  man  and  knows  enough  to  keep  his 
mouth  shut,  which  some  of  the  others  don't." 

"  Bradley  may  be  all  you  say.  I  think  him  a  dull  man 
myself;  but  the  one  I  admired  was  you.  You  steered 
them  out  of  a  tight  place  a  dozen  times.  Your  manner 
said,  '  Don't  be  too  free  before  this  boy,  for  he's  not  one 
of  us  yet,  and  it  doesn't  do  to  be  loose  with  the  gab." 

"  Oh,  I  didn't  distrust  you  at  all,  Maguire.  It  was 
nothing  to  me  what  they  said.  In  fact,  if  there  was  any 
suspicion  floating  about  it  was  on  your  part,  for  a 
remark  you  made  to  the  Boss  was  plainly  to  find  out  if  I 


"  Sack  great  Rome  with  Romans  "      303 

had  told  him  anything  about  how  you  were  elected 
alderman." 

"  It's  dead  right  you  are,  and  I  found  out  that  you 
were  a  brick,  who  knew  when  to  keep  still.  Now,  Grady, 
do  you  know  what  I  think  of  that  lot,  Boss  and  all  ?  " 

"  You  mean  what  do  they  think  of  you  ?  Those  men 
can  make  or  break  you.'' 

"  Indeed,  and  it  doesn't  trouble  me  a  particle  what  they 
think  of  me.  An'  as  for  breaking  me,  I'm  just  the  boy 
would  like  to  see  them  try  their  hands  at  it.  I  think 
they're  as  brainless  a  lot  as  you  could  pick  up  from 
Castle  Garden,  where  most  of  them  landed,  to  Central 
Park,  fornenst  which  most  of  them  are  living  now. 
That's  what  I  think." 

"  Oh,  I  dunno.  They  can  pick  up  the  money,  anyhow." 

"  They  can.    But  in  what  way,  Grady  ?    Tell  me  that." 

"  Oh,  there's  plenty  of  pickings  to  be  had  round  the 
city  hall." 

"  Yes.  Pickings  through  falsifying  accounts,  selling 
contracts,  taking  bribes  and  that  sort  of  thing,  leaving 
evidence  enough  behind  to  convict  a  moonlighter  before 
a  Kerry  jury.  Some  fine  day  a  lad  with  a  head  for  fig- 
ures will  get  among  the  records,  and  these  boys  that 
think  themselves  so  safe  will  be  in  Sing  Sing  before  they 
know  it." 

"  Don't  be  too  sure  of  that,  Maguire.  I  have  seen  a  few 
trials  myself,  and  there  was  no  closing  of  a  jail  door 
after." 

"  My  dear  Grady,"  cried  Maguire,  rising  and  walking 
up  and  down  the  room,  "  these  people  don't  understand 
the  first  principles  of  the  American  constitution.  They 
don't  know  what  this  great  country  is  made  for.  The 
foundation  stone  is  liberty.  The  ordinary  every-day  man 
in  the  street  wants  liberty  to  make  money ;  as  much  of  the 
cash  as  he  can,  and  as  fast  as  he  can.  If  ye  give  him  that, 
he  asks  no  odds  of  anybody.  He  doesn't  want  to  bother 
too  much  about  politics,  or  about  anything  else,  except 
the  raking  of  the  boodle.  Therefore  we  officials  relieve 
him  of  all  trouble,  providing  he  votes  straight,  and  keeps 
our  side  in,  so  that  we  can  do  h's  political  work  for  him, 


304  The  Victors 

in  order  that  he  may  devote  his  whole  attention  to  the 
piling  up  of  his  wealth.  He  ought  to  be  a  grateful  beast 
to  us  for  our  care  of  him,  but  sometimes  he  is  not,  and 
this  makes  politics  an  uncertain  game.  Very  well,  now ; 
what  these  jays  of  yours  has  not  tumbled  to  is  that  the 
business  man  of  New  York  will  pay  good  money  to  be 
let  alone.  There's  a  gold  mine  in  that  idea.  It  should 
really  be  patented,  but  I  would  have  a  difficulty  in  pre- 
venting infringemints,  so  I  tell  it  to  you  instead,  and  you 
and  me  will  work  the  racket  and  say  nothing  at  all  about 
it.  Are  ye  game  for  that,  Grady  ?  " 

"  I'm  not  sure  that  I  understand  what  you  are  driv- 
ing at." 

"  It's  as  simple  as  falling  off  a  log,  as  the  old  woman 
said.  You  and  me  have  offices,  that  make  us  guardians 
of  some  law  or  other,  it  doesn't  much  matter  which,  as 
long  as  it's  a  law  that  commands  people  to  do  something 
that's  expensive  to  do,  and  that  they  won't  do  if  ye  let 
'em  alone." 

"  Such  as  putting  up  fire-escapes  on  a  big  building," 
suggested  Grady,  with  a  smile. 

"  Exactly,  an'  a  mighty  good  instance.  Very  well, 
now,  the  inspector,  as  the  faithful  guardian  of  the  people's 
safety,  serves  notice  on  the  owner  of  some  big  building 
that  he  is  not  complying  with  the  law,  and  that  he  must 
put  up  fire-escapes." 

"  All  right.  The  proprietor,  being  a  law-abiding  citi- 
zen, puts  them  up.  What  then?  Where  does  the  in- 
spector come  in  ?  " 

"Oh,  the  inspector  stays  in  all  the  time.  When  the 
building  is  beautifully  decorated  with  fire-escapes,  at  a 
large  expense,  I  doubt  if  they  will  meet  the  inspector's 
approval,  and  I  much  misjudge  him  if  he  can  find  it  in  his 
conscience  to  pass  the  work,  all  on  account  of  the  welfare 
of  the  people.  The  material  is  sure  to  be  defective,  or 
certain  windows  are  unprotected,  and  this  must  be  pulled 
down,  and  the  other  must  be  put  up  differently.  I  tell 
ye,  me  boy,  that's  the  very  time  the  inspector  nobly  earns 
his  salary,  and  if  the  proprietor  kicks,  the  papers  will  say 
he's  a  flinty-hearted  millionaire,  anxious  to  build  up  his 


"  Sack  great  Rome  with  Romans  "      305 

pile  at  the  expense  of  the  lives  of  the  poor.  Well,  it  won't 
be  long  before  the  owner  of  that  building  takes  a  tumble 
to  himself,  and  comes  up  to  the  captain  s  office  to  settle. 
He  will  have  a  quiet  talk  with  the  incorruptible  inspector 
all  alone,  and  that  worthy  man  will  expound  the  law  to 
him.  Then  perhaps  when  he  leaves  he  will  neglect  to 
take  with  him  a  few  hundred  dollars  that  he  has  carelessly 
mislaid  on  the  inspector's  table,  and  after  that  everything 
runs  as  smooth  as  sweet  oil.  Of  course,  this  is  an  ex- 
treme case,  Grady,  explained  in  full,  because  ye  suggested 
it,  but  as  a  general  rule  the  business  man  can  be  so 
trained  that  he  will  come  to  the  inspector's  office  before 
he  throws  away  good  money  in  endeavouring  to  comply 
with  a  law  that  he  does  not  rightly  understand." 

"  Yes.  I  think  myself  there's  money  in  the  scheme." 
'  To  be  sure  there  is,  writh  no  records  left  behind  you, 
no  checks  handled  or  any  dangerous  documents  of  that 
sort.  In  Michigan,  when  I  was  there,  a  man  gave  me  two 
or  three  hundred  dollars  for  simply  doing  nothing. 
'  Keep  out  of  this  contest,'  he  says,  '  and  the  money  is 
yours.'  I  kept  out  of  it,  and  sure  enough  the  money  was 
mine.  This  was  in  a  small  and  poor  community  of  farm- 
ers; just  you  figure  up  what  this  same  idea  will  come  to 
in  a  rich  city  like  New  York,  with  thousands  of  people 
making  tons  of  money,  and  only  wanting  to  be  left  alone 
in  peace  and  quietness  to  make  tons  more.  You  see,  by 
taking  office  and  devoting  our  lives  to  the  service  of  the 
people,  we  have  no  chance  of  making  our  ton  of  gold,  like 
the  other  fellows,  and  it's  nothing  but  fair  and  honest  that 
the  money  should  be  supplied  in  some  other  way.  Ye 
don't  bother  the  poor  man  a  bit,  but  wre  take  from  the 
superfluity  of  the  rich,  which  is  the  true  element  of  de- 
mocracy and  republicanism  combined." 

"  It's  the  honesty  of  the  plan  that  commends  it  to  me, 
Ma^uire,"  said  Grady,  smiling  again. 

"  Of  course  it  is,"  continued  Maguire,  quite  seriously. 
''  Honesty  has  been  my  policy  ever  since  I  was  a  boy, 
and  though  I  may  have  lost  money  by  it,  what  is  money 
compared  with  a  clear  conscience  and  the  right  of  look- 
ing every  man  straight  in  the  eyes.  I  could  not  sleep  of 
20 


306  The  Victors 

nights  if  I  was  like  them  fellows  that  were  here  awhile 
ago,  knowing  there  was  evidence  against  me  if  anyone 
chanced  to  happen  on  it.  I  tell  you,  Grady,  I  am  an  un- 
selfish man,  as  you  can  see,  because  I  share  this  scheme 
with  you.  If  you  want  to  know  what  I'm  working 
for,  here  is  a  letter  that  will  show  you.  Read  it." 

Maguire  took  a  folded  document  from  his  inside  pocket 
and  handed  it  to  his  host.  The  latter  read  part,  then 
looked  up  at  the  young  man,  whose  face  was  aglow  and 
whose  eyes  were  sparkling,  a  smile  of  peculiar  sweetness 
hovering  about  his  lips. 

"  You've  made  a  mistake  in  the  letter,  Maguire,"  said 
Grady.  "  This  is  private.'' 

"  Of  course  it  is,  but  read  it  to  the  end." 

"  You've  handed  me  a  letter  from  a  lady." 

"  Yes,  yes ;  that's  right.  From  Miss  Lottie  Byfield, 
and  a  lady  she  is,  as  you  say,  true  io:  ye." 

The  brazen  cheek  of  the  hardened  politician  reddened 
as  he  read  this  beautiful  love  letter,  touching  in  its  sim- 
plicity, tender  as  an  opening  rosebud,  modest  and  un- 
sophisticated as  a  violet  in  spring.  It  breathed  through- 
out a  supreme  confidence  in  her  lover ;  in  his  honesty 
and  truth,  in  his  ultimate  success.  When  he  had  read  to 
the  end,  Grady  folded  it  up  with  a  sigh  and  handed  it 
back  to  its  radiant  owner.  "  So  you  are  to  be  married  on 
Christmas  day,  Pat  ?  " 

"  Yes,  and  to  the  dearest,  loveliest  girl,  thousands  of 
miles  too  good  for  a  man  like  me." 

"  They  are  all  too  good  for  us,  Maguire." 
"  Well,  Lottie  is,  and  no  mistake.  I  don't  know  so  much 
about  the  rest  of  them.  Yes,  I'm  to  be  married  Christmas 
day,  Grady,  and  I  want  to  do  the  thing  in  style,  for  she's 
more  than  worth  it.  I'm  going  to  take  her  down  to 
Florida ;  we'll  go  through  by  Cincinnati  and  Atlanta,  and 
then  after  a  month  there  we'll  come  straight  up  to  New 
York.  Now  the  trouble  with  me  is  that  I  haven't  got  any 
money  worth  speaking  of.  I  want  to  borrow  a  thousand 
dollars.  Will  ye  let  me  have  it  ?  '' 

"  I  will.  But  the  journey  you  propose  to  take  is  an 
expensive  one,  if  you  do  it  as  it  ought  to  be  done.  Then 


"  Sack  great  Rome  with   Romans  "      307 

you'll  want  to  give  her  a  nice  present,  so  you'd  better 
make  it  two  thousand  while  you're  about  it." 

Maguire  held  out  his- hand,  which  the  other  took,  and 
Patrick  pulled  him  to  his  feet. 

"  Grady,''  he  cried,  slapping  him  on  the  shoulder, 
"  you're  a  brick,  and  I  swear  you  won't  lose  by  it." 

The  progress  of  Alderman  Patrick  Maguire  to  the  west 
was  a  triumph.  There  was  a  glamour  about  his  person- 
ality that  made  him  attractive  to  the  newspaper  man  in 
the  cities  through  which  he  passed,  and  he  could  be  de- 
pended on  for  a  breezy  column  and  a  half  interview  re- 
garding politics  or  almost  any  other  subject  you  liked  to 
name.  Pat  was  always  one  of  the  boys,  wherever  he 
found  himself,  and  he  received  a  reporter  graciously,  even 
effusively.  He  had  provided  himself  with  a  huge  fur 
overcoat  which  gave  massive  proportions  to  his  natu- 
rally stalwart  frame.  Then  he  was  the  youngest  alder- 
man the  city  of  New  York  had  ever  elected ;  he  had  won 
in  a  Tammany  stronghold  on  the  republican  ticket,  and 
that  in  itself  was  distinction  enough  for  any  man.  The 
Detroit  newspapers  hailed  him  with  delight,  and  devoted 
much  valuable  space  to  him,  for  added  to  his  general  fame 
was  the  fact,  locally  interesting,  that  he  had  come  to  take 
back  a  Michigan  girl  as  his  wife.  And  he  acted  his  part 
well ;  there  was  a  swagger  about  him  that  would  have 
done  justice  to  the  highest  position  in  the  land.  The 
swagger  of  a  well-dressed,  well  set  up  man,  of  more  than 
ordinary  proportions,  in  a  great  fur  overcoat,  palpably 
expensive,  is  a  most  imposing  thing  to  behold,  and  shows 
us  what  we  all  may  come  to  if  luck  stands  our  friend. 

Thus  it  was  that  when  Maguire  got  off  the  train  at 
Ypsilanti  even  the  president  himself  could  hardly  have 
had  a  more  enthusiastic  reception,  or  a  more  numerous 
gathering  to  welcome  him. 

The  snow  had  been  falling  at  intervals  for  some  weeks 
before  Christmas,  and  the  sleighing  was  excellent. 

Maguire  had  telegraphed  royally  from  Detroit  to  the 
leading  livery  stable  man  in  Ypsilanti  asking  that  the 
best  team  and  the  finest  sleigh,  with  robes  to  match, 
should  be  in  readiness  for  him,  but  the  hospitality  of 


308  The  Victors 

Michigan  refused  to  allow  such  a  project  to  be  carried  to 
completion.  Young  Sam  Byfield  had  brought  to  the 
station  as  fine  and  fresh  a  pair  of  four-year-olds  as  the 
state  could  show,  and  he  was  accompanied  by  several 
of  the  neighbour  boys,  each  with  his  own  span. 
They  said  that  if  any  livery  team  in  Ypsilanti 
thought  it  could  pass  them,  it  was  at  liberty  to 
try,  offering  money  on  the  contest;  but  the  man 
who  let  out  horses  for  hire  declined  the  bet,  much  to  the 
hilarity  and  the  scoffing  of  the  young  bloods  from  the 
country.  And  so  they  captured  Maguire  as  soon  as  he 
stepped  down  from  the  train,  though  they  were  somewhat 
abashed,  it  must  be  confessed,  by  his  magnificence,  and 
with  their  captive  they  dashed  over  the  frozen  roads  of 
Michigan.  Maguire,  however,  put  on  no  airs ;  he  was  a 
countryman  himself,  he  proclaimed,  and  pointed  out  to 
them  that  the  men  who  really  succeeded  in  the  cities  were 
the  boys  who  came  from  the  farms,  as  he  had  done. 

And  so,  with  great  glee  and  song,  they  drove  toward 
the  settlement  of  which  the  Byfield  homestead  was  a 
part. 

As  they  dashed  down  into  the  hollow  before  reaching 
the  farm,  Maguire  noticed  a  long  white  ridge  of  snow 
running  straight  through  the  valley.  Excavation  of  some 
sort  had  been  stopped  by  the  winter,  and  now  the  snow 
covered  all  traces  of  the  work,  but  left  the  prolonged 
white  hillock,  like  a  great  drift. 

"  Hello,"  cried  Maguire.  "  What's  that  ?  Are  they 
building  a  railroad  through  these  parts?  My!  You'll  be 
in  town  then,  won't  you  ?  " 

"  That  ain't  no  railroad,'  replied  Sam,  "  it's  the  ditch 
you  tried  to  get  people  to  vote  against  when  you  were 
here  last.  They've  been  a-working  at  it  most  of  the 
summer  and  all  the  fall.  A  Ypsilanti  man's  got  the  con- 
tract. I  guess  you  knew  more  about  'lectioneering  m 
New  York  than  you  did  that  time  in  Michigan." 

"  Yes,  I  learned  something  when  I  was  here  among  ye 
before.  I  couldn't  play  tricks  with  you  people  in  this 
neighbourhood,  but  New  York  was  dead  easy,  for  a 
young  man  from  the  country,  you  know." 


"  Sack  great  Rome  with  Romans  "      309 

It  was  admitted  on  all  hands  that  the  wedding  on 
Christmas  day  was  one  of  the  most  notable  functions 
that  had  ever  taken  place  in  that  part  of  Michigan.  Re- 
porters from  the  city  were1  present,  and  what  greater  com- 
pliment could  be  paid  to  a  ceremony  than  that?  Their 
rhapsodies  on  the  beauty  of  the  bride  and  the  manly 
bearing  of  the  groom  may  still  be  read  in  the  old  files 
of  the  newspapers  at  the  office  of  those  journals  or  in  the 
public  library,  and  so,  being  already  on  record,  it  is  not 
necessary  here  to  repeat  them. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Maguire  began  their  wedding  journey 
to  the  south  amid  the  God-speeds  of  all  who  knew  them. 


BOOK    IV 

THE  HILL  OF  ENDEAVOUR 

CHAPTER    I 
"THAT  WERE  A  TRICK  INDEED" 

THE  summer  burned  itself  out,  and  the  cooler  days  of 
autumn  followed,  but  still  Monro  and  McAllister  had  not 
arrived  at  the  termination  of  their  work.  The  progress 
became  slower  when  they  reached  the  forest  growth  of 
the  foot-hills,  for  until  a  theodolite  is  invented  which  will 
enable  a  man  to  see  through  a  tree-trunk,  a  path  must 
be  cleared  for  it. 

The  young  men  kept  at  their  task  with  persistence, 
answering  no  questions,  and  consequently  telling  no  lies. 
After  local  curiosity  regarding  their  undertaking  had 
died  down,  they  were  subjected  to  a  scrutiny  that  was 
evidently  directed  from  afar;  but  this,  too,  their  silence 
baffled,  and  the  inquisitiveness  of  the  outlander  expired 
as  had  that  of  the  local  want-to-know.  They  had  become 
suspicious  of  all  strangers,  and  must  have  seemed  to  all 
strangers  very  glum  sort  of  persons  indeed. 

When  they  got  into  the  forest  the  weather  was  delight- 
ful, and  now  that  they  were  constantly  by  the  side  of  the 
babbling  river,  its  musical  chorus  lulled  them  asleep  at 
night,  and  sang  to  them  a  morning  hymn  on  their  awaken- 
ing. The  work  was  manly  and  healthful,  and  their  way 
of  living  was  perhaps  the  way  Providence  intended  man 
to  live.  They  were  attended  by  two  axemen,  and  a  negro 
did  their  cooking  in  a  manner  which  seemed  to  them  to 
excel  Delmonico,  not  that  either  of  them  had  experience 
of  that  famous  eating  shop.  There  were  three  white  tents 
310 


"That  were  a  trick  indeed"  311 

which  moved  a  little  up  the  green  glade  each  day.  Given 
perfect  weather,  a  campfire  is  ever  the  most  enchanting 
of  hearths.  Now  and  then  a  stray  belated  newspaper 
floated  into  the  forest,  when  one  or  other  of  the  campers 
returned  from  Pillageville  with  supplies,  but  as  a  general 
thing  they  knew  little  of  what  was  going  on  in  the  outside 
world,  and  cared  less. 

Only  once  had  Mitchell  visited  them,  and  then  briefly. 
He  departed  as  suddenly  as  he  came.  Monro  en- 
deavoured to  show  him  the  advantages  of  the  line  they 
had  adopted,  as  compared  with  other  routes  which  might 
have  been  chosen,  but  Mitchell's  inscrutable,  clean-shaven 
face  gave  no  token  that  he  was  interested,  or  the  reverse. 
The  negro  cook,  who  seemed  to  know  by  instinct  every- 
thing that  was  going  on  in  the  state,  said  that  Mr. 
Mitchell  had  entertained  a  party  from  up  north  at  his 
roomy  log  house  on  the  ranch ;  but  if  he  had  done  so  he 
failed  to  invite  the  young  men  to  participate  in  his  hos- 
pitality, as  Glassthrop  had  given  them  reason  to  expect 
he  would.  This  lack  of  interest  in  them  they  were  far 
from  resenting.  Their  relations  with  him  were  on  a 
purely  business  basis,  and  they  neither  looked  for  nor 
desired  social  recognition.  If  Mitchell  possessed  the 
capacity  for  friendship,  which  was  questionable,  for  he 
was  such  an  alert  commercial  man,  such  a  modern  hu- 
man, money-making  machine,  the  young  men  felt  they 
never  even  touched  the  outer  fringe  of  his  regard.  To 
him  they  were  merely  two  instruments  to  be  used  for  his 
own  purposes.  Monro  said,  when  they  talked  this  over 
in  their  tent,  that  Mitchell  would  as  soon  think  of 
them,  outside  of  their  capacity  to  serve  him,  as  Monro 
himself  would  think  of  making  a  friend  of  the  theodo- 
lite. 

One  enchanting  autumn  day  a  fisherman  anxious  for 
information  regarding  the  piscatorial  possibilities  of  the 
river  accosted  the  surveyors.  He  was  well  equipped  with 
the  latest  and  most  expensive  paraphernalia  of  the  sport, 
and  seemed  to  dress  the  part  to  perfection.  The  surveyors 
were  compelled  to  confess  their  ignorance  of  the  gentle 
art ;  they  had  never  even  suspected  the  existence  of  trout 


312  The  Victors 

in  the  stream,  although  there  might  be  many.  Neither  did 
they  know  anything  of  the  fish,  or  the  season  for  catch- 
ing them.  The  fisher  was  disappointed.  He  had  great 
difficulty,  he  said,  in  finding  anyone  who  knew  the  rivers, 
so  he  supposed  he  would  have  to  experiment  for  himself. 
He,  too,  was  tenting,  and  asked  permission  to  pitch 
his  canvas  near  thier  camp.  McAllister  replied  that,  so 
far  as  he  knew,  woods,  river  and  bank  were  free  to 
all  comers,  and  thus,  for  a  few  days,  the  fisherman  and 
his  attendants  were  their  neighbours.  The  sportsman 
was  a  sociable  person  who  sat  with  them  beside  their  log 
fire  at  night  and  told  most  interesting  stories.  Like 
themselves,  he  v/as  originally  from  the  west,  but  of  late 
years  had  lived  mainly  in  New  York,  and  the  more 
keenly  enjoyed  his  outing  that  he  was  kept  close  to  a 
desk  the  greater  part  of  the  year. 

"  What  do  you  think  he's  fishing  for?  "  asked  Jim  of 
his  comrade  one  evening  when  they  were  returning  to 
camp.  "  He  never  brings  in  any  fish,  if  you  notice." 

"  Oh,  I  guess  he's  all  right,"  answered  Ben.  "  I 
shouldn't  wonder  but  the  absence  of  fish  is  a  peculiarity 
of  the  city  fisherman.  Are  your  suspicions  on  the  up- 
ward move  again?  He  never  asks  us  any  questions 
about  our  business." 

"  No,  he  doesn't.  He's  a  deep  man,  and  I  think  he'll 
get  at  all  we  know  without  cross-examination." 

"  Which  isn't  much.  I  don't  see  that  we  need  be  so 
extra  careful,  because,  after  all,  we  know  no  more  about 
what  we  are  at  than  when  we  started,  and  we  had  mighty 
little  information  to  begin  on.'' 

"  Well,  such  as  we  have,  he's  not  going  to  get  any  of 
it." 

"  Jimmy,  this  business  is  ruining  the  simplicity  of  your 
nature.  You'll  be  suspicious  of  every  stranger  for  the 
rest  of  your  life." 

"  He's  a  railroad  man." 

"  What  makes  you  think  so  ?  '' 

"  A  hundred  little  expressions.  He  never  says  half- 
past  nine.  His  phrase  is  every  night,  '  Well,  it's  nine- 
thirty  ;  I  guess  I'll  turn  in.' " 


"That  were  a  trick  indeed"  313 

"  But  '  turn  in  '  is  a  nautical  expression.  You  might 
just  as  well  acctrse  him  of  being  a  sea  captain." 

"  It's  used  as  often  in  a  sleeping-car  as  aboard  ship. 
I'm  sure  he's  a  railroad  man." 

When  the  two  reached  camp  that  evening  they  found 
a  horseman  from  Pillageville  awaiting  them.  He  had 
just  arrived  with  a  telegram  for  Monro,  and  the  latter 
knew  before  he  opened  it  that  the  message  was  from 
Mitchell,  who  rarely  used  the  postal  service.  The  sender 
informed  Monro  that  he  would  arrive  at  Pillageville  by 
the  noon  train  on  Thursday,  and  he  wished  the  easiest 
covered  buggy  the  place  afforded  to  be  ready  for  him  at 
the  station.  He  further  requested  Monro's  personal  at- 
tendance, and  held  him  responsible  for  the  buggy,  even 
if  he  had  to  get  it  forwarded  from  Asheville  or  further. 

"  What  do  you  make  of  that  ?  "  inquired  Jim,  reading 
the  communication  aloud. 

"  Mitchell's  ill,  I  should  say,"  replied  Ben.  "  He  gen- 
erally goes  to  his  ranch  on  horseback,  I  understand.  I 
suppose  a  buggy  can  be  driven  to  the  farm,  but  the  road 
is  pretty  bad." 

"  I  take  it  that  he  will  have  a  lady  with  him." 

"  Perhaps  so.  Let's  see ;  this  is  Tuesday.  What  are 
you  going  to  do  ?  " 

"  Nothing  can  be  done  to-night.  I'll  get  up  early  and 
ride  to  Pillageville  to-morrow  morning.  I  may  have  to 
telegraph  for  a  buggy." 

Thus  Wednesday  morning  found  Jim  astride  his  horse 
on  the  road  to  the  distant  village.  He  was  still  half  a 
dozen  miles  from  the  place  when  he  saw  a  rider  galloping 
toward  him,  and  thought  at  first  that  another  telegram 
was  on  its  way  to  him,  but  closer  inspection  showed  the 
rider  to  be  a  woman.  As  the  two  neared  each  other,  both 
pulled  up  with  exclamations  of  surprise. 

"  Why,  Mr.  Monro,  what  are  you  doing  here  ?  " 

"  Good  morning,  Miss  \an  Ness;  I  was  just  going  to 
ask  the  same  question  of  you.  This  is  a  long  distance 
from  Montreal." 

"  It  is  no  further  for  me  than  for  you,  is  it  ?  " 

"  That  is  true.     When  did  you  return  to  New  York?  " 


314  The  Victors 

"  Oh,  I've  been  home  for  some  time.  When  did  you 
become  a  resident  of  North  Carolina  ?  " 

"  Almost  from  the  moment  I  bade  you  good-bye.  I 
spent  but  one  day  in  New  York,  and  then  came  right 
on  here  ?  " 

"  Is  your  companion  with  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,  we've  been  working  together  all  summer." 

"  Getting  on  well,  I  hope.  You  were  very  ambitious, 
you  know/' 

"  Yes,  I  think  we  are  getting  along  pretty  well.'' 

'''  Think  !     Don't  you  know  whether  you  are  or  not  ?  " 

"  Well,  to  tell  the  truth,  I  don't,"  said  Jim  with  a  laugh. 
"  I've  seen  my  employer  only  once  since  we  arrived, 
and  he  expressed  neither  satisfaction  nor  censure.  He's 
a  taciturn  man.  He  is  coming  here  to-morrow,  so  per- 
haps I  shall  learn  more  definitely  how  I  stand  with  him." 

"  Then  his  coming  has  brought  you  out  of  the  woods, 
I  suppose.  Am  I  correct  in  guessing  you  are  riding  to 
Pillageville?" 

"  Yes.  Won't  you  turn  round,  or  are  you  going  some- 
where in  particular?" 

"  No,  I  am  just  out  for  a  morning  ride.  There's  noth- 
ing else  to  do  in  this  outlandish  place.  My  father  is  here 
on  business,  and  I  came  with  him.  He  wished  me  to  go 
on  to  Asheville  until  he  was  ready  to  return,  but  I 
thought  I  would  rather  stay  here.'' 

"  Then  you  have  my  sympathy.  I  stopped  a  week  in 
the  hotel,  and  thought  it  about  as  bad  as  laziness  could 
make  it." 

"  Oh,  I'm  not  at  the  hotel,  but  in  my  father's  private 
car,  with  all  the  luxuries  of  the  season,  including  my 
French  maid  and  an  excellent  cook.  You  must  come 
and  have  dinner  with  us,  and  then  you  will  appreciate 
the  resources  of  a  private  car.  We  are  side-tracked  down 
below  the  freight  shed ;  No.  20  Railroad  Avenue,  I  call 
it ;  but  look  out  for  the  trains  when  you  cross  our  front 
yard.'' 

Grace  Van  Ness  had  turned  toward  Pillageville  and 
the  two  now  rode  along  side  by  side,  walking  their  horses. 
They  formed  a  striking  contrast — civilisation  and  the 


"That  were  a  trick  indeed"  315 

frontier.  The  girl's  New- York-made  exquisitely  fitting- 
riding  costume  seemed  the  last  triumph  of  the  tailoring 
art;  the  young  man  in  rough-and-tumble  suit,  flannel 
shirt,  open  at  the  neck,  face  and  throat  browned  with 
exposure,  wide-brimmed  slouch  hat  picturesquely  crown- 
ing all,  produced  a  general  cow-boy  effect  that  evidently 
attracted  his  companion,  for  she  glanced  shyly  at  him 
now  and  then  with  a  brief  look  that  had  no  displeasure  in 
it.  And  yet  Jim  was  wishing  all  the  time  that  he  had  his 
good  clothes  on. 

"  Have  you  been  here  long?  "  he  asked. 

"  Not  very  long,  but  I  can't  tell  how  many  more  days 
we  may  have  to  stay.  You  see,  one  of  those  tiresome 
railway  problems  is  to  the  front  at  this  moment ;  they  al- 
ways crop  up  in  the  most  uninteresting  places.  This 
problem  has  been  threatening  in  one  shape  or  another  for 
the  last  twenty  years,  but  lately  it  has  assumed  an  acute 
form.  It  is  the  old  fight  for  the  Boontown  Notch.'' 

"  The  Boontown  Notch  ?  " 

"  Yes,  that  is  a  cut  through  the  mountains  some  dis- 
tance from  where  we  are." 

"  Oh,  I  know  it  well." 

"  I  don't,  but  I  know  it  has  been  trouble  enough  to 
every  one  interested  in  southern  railways.  Each  line 
wants  to  get  the  right  of  way  through  the  Notch,  but  the 
other  roads  obstruct  the  granting  of  that  right  to  any 
one  corporation,  and,  as  usual,  the  roads  can't  agree  on  a 
joint  line  to  be  held  in  common.  That's  what  father  pro- 
posed long  ago,  and  now  the  thing  he  predicted  has  hap- 
pened. A  man  has  got  a  bill  through  the  legislature 
which  father  says  is  the  cleverest  thing  done  this  century. 
You  see  there  is  a  law — " 

"  Miss  Van  Ness,  wait  a  moment.  I  think  I  should 
warn  you  before  you  say  any  more.  I  suspect  I  am  in 
the  employ  of  the  enemy.  One  question:  is  Mr.  Van 
Ness  the  lone  fisherman  ?  " 

"  Why,  yes.  It  isn't  possible  you  are  one  of  the  en- 
gineers ?  " 

"  That's  exactly  what  I  am." 

"  O  dear,  O  dear,  and  here  I've  gone  and  put  you  on 
your  guard." 


316  The  Victors 

"  Not  more  so  than  I  was  before.  I  knew  he  was  a 
railroad  man.  He  didn't  learn  anything  from  me,  and 
wouldn't  if  he  stayed  there  a  year." 

The  amused  laughter  of  the  girl  floated  over  the  echo- 
less  plain. 

"  Don't  be  so  sure,"  she  said  at  last.  "  He  told  me 
you  knew  nothing  of  engineering." 

"  I  guess  I  know  as  much  about  engineering  as  he  does 
of  fishing.  I  have  at  least  run  a  line,  and  he  has  thrown 
many  a  line,  but  hasn't  caught  a  fish." 

Maud  Van  Ness  bent  in  laughter  over  her  horse's 
neck.  Jim  appreciated  the  comicality  of  the  situation 
with  equal  gusto,  and  thus  two  young  people  made 
merry  over  a  matter  which  was  causing  older  and  wiser 
folk  much  anxiety. 

"  What  else  did  he  learn?"  asked  Monro  at  last. 

"  Do  you  think  I  am  going  to  tell  you?  Not  likely! 
I  have  told  you  too  much  already." 

"You  haven't  told  me  anything.  In  my  rigid  hon- 
esty I  stopped  you  the  moment  I  had  an  inkling  of  how 
the  land  lay." 

' '  Yes,  you  two  are  pretty  honest  young  men  ;  otherwise 
you  would  have  taken  the  million  and  made  off  with  it." 

"  The  million!      What  million?" 

"  The  million  dollars  that  was  placed  to  your  credit 
in  the  Pillageville  bank.  Is  there  another  million  some- 
where else?" 

Jim,  in  his  astonishment,  whistled  a  long,  surprised 
whistle. 

"Why,  didn't  you  know  that?"  she  asked.  "What 
do  you  know  about  the  business,  then?" 

"  Very  little,  I  must  admit.  If  Mr.  Van  Ness  had  all 
the  knowledge  in  my  possession  it  wouldn't  do  him  any 
more  good  than  if  he  looted  my  engineering  equipment." 

"  Then  why  are  you  so  guarded?" 

"  Because  I  promised  not  to  tell." 

"  Sworn  to  secrecy?  How  interesting.  Who  admin- 
istered the  oath,  and  why,  if  you  knew  nothing?" 


"That  were  a  trick  indeed"  317 

"  Really,  Miss  Van  Ness,  I  must  not  answer  you." 

"  But  you  have  answered  me.  Still,  perhaps,  when  Mr. 
Mitchell  comes  to-morrow,  he  may  remove  the  ban  of 
silence." 

"  What  do  you  know  of  Mitchell,  Miss  Van  Ness?  I 
am  certain  I  never  mentioned  his  name." 

"  Didn't  you  say  he  was  coming  to-morrow  ?  " 

"  Yes — no — I  said — I  said  my  emplover  was  coming1.'' 

"Isn't  that  the  same  thing?  Isn't  Mr.  Mitchell  your 
employer  ?  "' 

"  Perhaps  he  is,  or  one  of  them — " 

"  Oh,  you  have  two." 

"  Now,  look  here,  Miss  Van  Ness,  I'm  not  going  to 
say  another  word  about  employers  or  railroads.  Let's 
talk  of  Montreal ;  lovely  city,  isn't  it  ?  " 

"  Very.  Father  says  he's  glad  he  isn't  going  to  be 
manager  of  your  road." 

"Why?" 

"  Because/'  laughed  the  girl,  "  he  could  never  sleep  on 
rainy  nights.  He  says  every  freshet  from  the  mountains 
will  carry  your  roadbed  into  the  next  county." 

"  Well,''  admitted  Jim,  ruefully,  "  I  guess  I  am  run- 
ning it  a  little  close  to  the  river,  in  places." 

"  All  of  which  convinces  him  that  your  people  do  not 
intend  to  build  the  road.  In  fact,  Mr.  James  Monro,  you 
are  engaged  in  a  huge  blackmailing  operation." 

"  I,  certainly,  am  not.  I'm  doing  a  piece  of  work  for  a 
specified  salary." 

"So  you  won't  round  on  the  gang;  isn't  that  the 
phrase  they  use  :n  the  criminal  courts  ?  " 

"  I  suppose  it  is,  but  as  I  don't  know  anything  against 
the  gang,  therefore  I  can't  round." 

"If  you  did,  would  you?" 

"  I  should  leave  their  employ,  but  I  would  keep  my 
promise  to  them." 

"  Now  I  wonder  if  that's  right  or  wrong?  There's  al- 
ways two  ways  of  looking  at  a  thing,  isn't  there?  " 

"  Oh,  a  dozen,  probably,  but  that's  my  way.  Still,  you 
haven't  told  me  what  suggested  the  name  of  Mitchell  to 
you?" 


3i8  The  Victors 

"  I  suppose  there's  no  harm  in  telling  that.  Mitchell  is 
the  man  who  got  the  bill  through  the  state  legislature ; 
I  surmised  that  he  was  your  employer,  although  father 
thought  he  was  merely  a  dummy  with  bigger  men  or  some 
railway  company  at  the  back  of  him.  Everyone,  except 
you,  knows  about  Mr.  Mitchell  and  his  clever  bill." 

"What  is  this  bill?'' 

"  You  are  asking  a  good  many  questions  for  a  man 
who  refuses  to  answer  any." 

"  I've  answered  more  of  yours  than  I  intended." 

"  Thank  you.  That  admission  is  valuable,  and  in  re- 
ward, I'll  tell  you  all  about  the  bill.  There  is  a  statute  in 
North  Carolina  which  enables  a  man  to  get  a  short  bill 
passed  through  the  legislature  giving  him  power  to  con- 
struct a  tramway  between  one  factory  and  another,  if  he 
owns  two  that  nee*d  connecting.  Mr.  Mitchell  owns  a 
saw-mill  and  a  planing-mill.  He  got  a  bill  passed  through 
the  legislature  authorising  him  to  build  a  tramway  of 
standard  gauge  between  the  two  mills.  That's  all." 

"  I  don't  see  anything  important  in  that." 

"  Neither  did  the  state  legislature,  nor  the  governor,  nor 
the  railway  attorneys,  who  are  supposed  to  watch  on  be- 
half of  their  roads  at  the-  capital ;  but  they  saw  it  when 
they  learned  that  the  planing  mill  was  in  Pillageville,  and 
the  saw-mill  in  Boontown,  one  on  each  side  of  the  Notch, 
more  than  fifty  miles  apart." 

"By  George!  That  was  a  cute  move.  Mitchell's  just 
the  man  to  think  of  such  a  trick.'' 

"  Ah,  then  you  know  him  after  all?  " 

"  I  never  denied  knowledge  of  him.  Can't  they  re- 
scind the  act,  or  break  it  in  some  way — it's  so  evidently 
a  trick?" 

"How  can  they?  Mr.  Mitchell  is  quite  within  his 
right.  Everything  has  been  done  legally,  and  no  one  can 
say  even  now  that  he  intends  anything  more  than  a  road 
to  carry  lumber  from  one  mill  to  the  other.  But  once 
the  rails  are  down  who  can  prophesy  what  will  run  over 
them?  You  may  depend  they  will  try  to  have  the  act 
annulled,  but  it  is  a  very  easy  thing  to  prevent  an  act 


"That  were  a  trick  indeed"  319 

passing,  compared  with  repealing  an  act  already  signed 
by  the  governor." 

"  But  why  didn't  Mr.  Van  Ness  go  direct  to  Mitchell 
when  he  discovered  he  was  the  man  ?  " 

"  I  suppose  that  is  what  he  will  have  to  do  ultimately, 
but  such  a  move  is  a  last  resort.  Besides,  he  wanted  to 
know  whether  Mitchell  was  the  principal  or  merely  an 
agent.  He  also  wanted  to  know  whether  they  really  in- 
tended to  build  the  road  or  were  only — only — " 

"Bluffing?" 

"  Exactly." 

"  Well,  Miss  Van  Ness,  I  shall  tell  Mr.  Mitchell  to- 
morrow that  I  can  no  longer  be  an  employe  of  his.  I 
shall  ask  him  outright  if  this  is  the  swindle  I  now  sup- 
pose it  to  be." 

"  Do  you  expect  he  will  tell  you  the  truth?  " 

"  Possibly  not.  I  shall  know  more  about  that  to- 
morrow." 

"  I  wouldn't  do  anything  rash  if  I  were  you ;  besides, 
you  have  your  partner  to  consider." 

"  My  partner  will  think  just  as  I  do — more  so.  He  is 
a  better  man  than  I  am." 

"  You  can't  expect  me  to  believe  that,  Mr.  Monro." 

"  I  hope  you  won't,  but  it  is  true  nevertheless." 

"  Please  don't  do  anything  definite  until  I  have  a  talk 
with  my  father,  and  then  I  will  meet  you  again.  He 
naturally  sees  things  much  clearer  than  I  do,  and,  in 
business,  it  is  better  to  take  a  man's  view  than  a  wo- 
man's." 

"  I'm  not  so  sure  of  that." 

"  Oh  yes,  it  is.  A  woman  is  apt  to  be  prejudiced,  and 
then  you  must  not  forget  that  what  I  think  of  Mr. 
Mitchell  is  mere  surmise.  It  is  quite  possible  that  he  is 
as  honest  as  a  gold  dollar.  Promise  me  not  to  send  in 
your  resignation  until  I  see  you  again." 

'  All  right.     I  promise."  ' 

"  Thank  you.  Now  that  we  are  near  the  village  I 
must  turn  back.  I  rather  thought  I  should  meet  my 
father,  but  this  is  almost  too  early  for  him,  and  perhaps 
he  may  not  come  in  at  all  to-day.  Good-bye !  " 


320  The  Victors 

She  turned  her  horse,  and,  with  a  wave  of  her  hand, 
galloped  to  the  north  before  he  could  make  any  reply. 
He  sat  there  gazing  after  her.  Once  she  looked  back 
and  waved  her  hand  again,  he  lifting  his  slouch  hat  in 
salute.  Then,  with  a  sigh  that  was  perhaps  for  a  lost 
occupation,  he  rode  slowly  into  the  village  and  gave  up 
his  horse  to  the  negro  at  the  tavern.  The  proprietor 
was  seated  on  a  tilted-back  wooden  chair  under  the 
verandah,  his  feet  on  the  rungs,  just  as  Monro  had  left 
him  some  weeks  before. 


CHAPTER    II 

"  BY  A  SEALED  COMPACT,  WELL  RATIFIED  " 

MONRO  got  the  covered  buggy  and  a  pair  of  horses  to 
draw  it,  with  a  negro  to  drive  the  team.  Then  he  waited 
on  the  platform  until  the  noon  train  arrived.  He  saw 
the  palatial  private  car  side-tracked  at  the  extremity  of 
the  yard,  but  there  was  no  sign  of  its  inmates.  The  more 
he  thought  over  the  conversation  which  had  taken  place 
between  Miss  Van  Ness  and  himself,  the  higher  rose  his 
resentment  against  Glassthrop  and  Mitchell.  He  was 
convinced  that  they  were  blackmailers  on  a  huge  scale, 
and  he  resented  his  having  been  made  their  instrument, 
yet  his  conscience  told  him  that  this  aggressive  honesty 
was  rather  belated,  for  both  he  and  Ben  had  suspected 
something  of  the  sort  before  they  left  New  York. 

When  the  train  came  in  he  thought  for  a  moment  that 
Mitchell  was  not  aboard,  and  was  shocked  to  see  the  man 
he  sought  being  helped  slowly  down  the  steps  by  two 
others,  his  head  sunk  into  his  shoulders,  his  face  of 
ghastly  pallor,  a  bent  old  man,  with  the  imprint  of  death 
on  every  shrunken  line  of  his  frame.  All  Monro's  anger 
vanished  as  he  sprang  forward  to  meet  him.  He  thought 
there  had  been  an  accident  on  the  road. 

"My  God,  Mr.  Mitchell/'  he  cried,  "what  has  hap- 
pened ?  " 

"  Nothing,  nothing,"  snarled  Mitchell,  in  hollow  tones, 
irritation  thrilling  them.  "  Have  you  got  that  buggy?" 

"  Yes,  sir ;  it's  outside  here  with  two  horses." 

"  Well,  don't  stand  chattering  there,  but  help  me 
to  it.'' 

Monro  lent  his  arm,  and  Mitchell  leaned  heavily  upon 
it  shuffling  his  feet  along  the  platform  like  a  decrepit 
/eteran. 

21  321 


322  The  Victors 

"  What's  this  nigger  doing  here  ? "  asked  Mitchell 
fretfully,  when  they  reached  the  buggy.  "  Get  out  of 
this ;  I  want  a  white  man  to  drive  me.'' 

The  negro  stepped  down  from  the  buggy  grinning 
amiably. 

"  Give  him  a  dollar,"  con.mued  Mitchell.  "  You  can 
drive,  I  suppose?  " 

"  Yes,  after  a  fashion,"  replied  Monro. 

"Roads  pretty  rough,  are  they?" 

"  They're  not  as  good  as  they  might  be." 

"  Well,  drive  slowly ;  there's  plenty  of  time.  Tell  the 
nigger  to  take  your  horse  to  the  ranch.  Now  let's  get  out 
of  this." 

Monro  drove  on  in  silence,  Mitchell  leaning  back  in 
the  buggy,  with  closed  eyes,  palpably  exhausted  by  his 
exertion.  When  they  were  about  a  mile  from  the  village 
he  said  faintly : 

"  It  is  nothing  serious,  you  know.  A  day  or  two  on 
the  farm  will  put  me  all  right  again.  I  feel  better  already 
in  this  air." 

Monro  thought  he  did  not  look  it. 

"  Have  you  been  ill?  ''  he  asked. 

"  No.  It's  just  a  sudden  breakdown.  I  have  them 
now  and  then,  and  whenever  I  feel  one  coming  on  I  al- 
ways make  straight  for  the  ranch.  There  I  quit  thinking 
and  get  the  rumble  of  the  train  out  of  my  head.  That's 
the  first  symptom,  car  wheels  rumbling,  rumbling,  rum- 
bling over  my  brain,  night  and  day,  all  the  time." 

"Have  you  seen  a  physician  about  it?" 

"  No  need  for  that.  I  know  all  a  physician  can  tell  me. 
There's  nothing  wrong  with  me,  merely  too  much  travel 
on  the  cars,  and  rushing  about  here  and  there.  I  seem  to 
be  spending  my  life  in  cabs  on  the  jump  to  catch  trains, 
hiring  a  special  when  the  regular  train  pulls  out  before  I 
get  there." 

"  Do  you  think  it  worth  while  ?  " 

"  Think  what  worth  while?  " 

"  That  sort  of  life.  If  I  had  five  millions,  I'd  take  it 
easy." 


"  By  a  sealed  compact,  well  ratified"    323 

"  You  don't  know  what  you're  talking  about,"  replied 
Mitchell,  the  irritation  returning  to  his  voice.  "  What's 
five  millions  in  New  York  ?  I'm  a  poor  man  in  New 
York.  I'm  all  right.  This  is  merely  a  nervous  collapse. 
I'll  be  breaking  colts  in  a  week  on  the  farm.'' 

Again  there  was  silence  between  them  which  lasted  for 
a  long  time.  Now  and  then  Mitchell  drew  a  deep  breath 
as  if  the  pure  country  air  was  revivifying  him,  as  indeed 
it  seemed  to  be  doing.  He  sat  up  straighter  in  the  buggy, 
and  when  the  road  inclined  to  the  west  until  a  row  of 
stakes  were  visible  across  country  Mitchell,  noticing 
them,  asked  abruptly: 

"That  your  surveying?" 

"  Yes,  sir,"  answered  Monro.  "  The  line  crosses  the 
road  here,  and  recrosses  it  a  few  miles  further  on.  I  ran 
it  straight  for  the  woods  and  then  followed  the  stream.  I 
expect  to  reach  the  Notch  next  week.'' 

For  the  first  time  Mitchell  laughed,  a  quiet,  low,  sneer- 
ing chuckle.  In  spite  of  his  employer's  weak  state, 
Monro  felt  all  sympathy  for  the  man  ebbing  away,  and 
his  old  dislike  for  him  and  non-confidence  in  him  re- 
turning. 

"  You'll  never  reach  the  Notch,  my  boy,"  said  Mitch- 
ell. "  You  were  never  intended  to  go  even  as  far  as  you 
have  gone.  Surely  you  two  were  not  simpletons  enough 
to  imagine  that  we  were  going  to  build  the  road?  We 
would  have  hired  competent  engineers  if  that  had  been 
the  case.1' 

"  I  thought  perhaps  you  wanted  a  rough  survey." 

"  Well,  I  guess  we  got  it.  Rough  enough,  I  imagine, 
but  it's  answered  its  purpose,  and  now  you  fellows  will 
have  to  look  for  another  job,  and  that  right  away,  too." 

"I  understood  that  if  we  gave  satisfaction  we  might 
expect  further  employment  from  your  firm,"  said  Jim, 
quite  forgetting,  now  that  he  saw  dismissal  ahead,  his 
heroic  determination  of  yesterday  to  resign. 

"  Oh,  you  can't  come  that  game  on  me.  I  warned  you 
plainly  enough." 

"  I'm  not  trying  any  game,  nor  am  I  complaining.     I 


324  The  Victors 

quite  admit  that  you  led  us  to  expect  nothing.  When  do 
we  quit?  " 

"  You  have  quit.  The  bank  honours  no  more  checks. 
I'll  pay  you  up  till  to-day.  The  deal  is  finished." 

"  You  spoke  of  our  being  simpletons,  but  I  may  tell 
you  that  never  from  the  first  did  we  believe  in  your  road. 
We  did  our  duty  and  kept  quiet,  as  we  were  told  to  do." 

"  Yes,  and  got  your  pay.  Don't  overlook  the  fact  that 
we  held  strictly  to  our  arrangement  with  you." 

"  I  wish  I  could  get  you  to  understand  that  I  am  mak- 
ing no  protest.  You  have  done  exactly  what  you  said, 
and  we  couldn't  have  any  fault  to  find  even  if  we  searched 
for  one.  We've  been  generously  paid  and  have  saved  our 
money." 

"I'm  glad  to  hear  it." 

"  But  I  have  some  curiosity  about  the  deal  that  was  on, 
if  it  is  not  a  secret." 

"  Oh,  no  secret  at  all,  now  that  the  thing  is  complete 
and  the  money  paid  over.  A  simple  matter.  We  bought 
fifty  thousand  acres  of  timber  land  for  a  dollar  an  acre, 
which  seems  cheap,  but  the  pine  is  practically  valueless 
because  it  is  so  far  from  a  railroad.  Very  well ;  we  sup- 
ply the  missing  link,  and  you  two  begin  to  survey  the  rail- 
way line.  We  didn't  say  to  anyone  that  a  railroad  was 
going  to  be  built,  and  we  don't  say  so  now.  Ostensibly 
we  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  new  line,  and  ostensibly 
we  did  not  care  particularly  to  sell  timber  lands.  The 
purchasers  approached  us,  offering  us  five  dollars  an 
acre.  We  said  we  didn't  believe  the  road  was  going 
through,  but  that  if  it  did  the  land  was  worth  one 
hundred  dollars  an  acre,  if  it  was  worth  a  cent, 
all  of  which  is  quite  true.  The  syndicate  finally  offered 
ten  dollars  an  acre  for  half  the  property,  and  we  sold, 
netting  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  on  the  deal,  and 
retaining  twenty-five  thousand  acres  of  land  that  has  cost 
us  nothing.  They  asked  us  few  questions,  and  our  an- 
swers were  invariably  truthful." 

"  But  the  scheme  was  a  swindle,  nevertheless." 

"  Oh,  bless  you,  no.     The  land  is  well  worth  the  money 


"  By  a  sealed  compact,  well  ratified"    325 

they  paid,  and  the  purchasers  imagine  they  have  taken 
advantage  of  a  couple  of  New  York  men  who  don't  know 
what  is  going  on  in  North  Carolina.  Perhaps  they  have ; 
perhaps  they  have,  but  let  'em  build  the  road,  if  they 
want  it.  I'll  give  them  the  franchise  cheap;  in  fact,  I'd 
have  thrown  it  in  free,  if  they'd  asked  for  it." 

"  Will  you  give  it  to  me  if  I  ask  for  it?  '' 

"  No,  sir.  I  never  give  anything  away  when  a  deal's 
finished.  The  time  to  make  a  bargain  with  me  is  when 
I  want  something  from  you.  I'm  through  with  you 
now." 

As  they  neared  the  ranch  Mitchell's  garrulousness  sub- 
sided and  he  became  somewhat  like  his  old  self  again. 
He  got  out  of  the  buggy  alone,  refusing  assistance. 

"  Go  back  to  your  camp,''  he  commanded,  "  and  send 
instruments,  tents,  and  everything  here  to-morrow.  I'll 
pay  off  the  hands  and  they  can  walk  to  Pillageville.  You 
two  may  drive  back  in  this  buggy,  and  turn  it  over  to  its 
owner,  when  you've  signed  receipts." 

Darkness  had  fallen  before  Monro  reached  the  camp 
and  found  McAllister  waiting  for  him  beside  the  log  fire. 
Jim's  first  question  was : 

"  Where  is  Mr.  Van  Ness  ?  " 

"Who?" 

"  The  lone  fisherman ;  has  he  been  to  Pillageville  since 
I  left?" 

"  No.  He  stayed  right  by  me,  seemingly  wishing  to 
cultivate  my  acquaintance  in  your  absence.  J'm,  I've 
come  to  your  opinion  ;  he  is  a  railroad  man,  and  he's  here 
to  find  out  what  we're  doing." 

"  Yes ;  he's  Mr.  Van  Ness,  the  railway  manager.  He's 
still  here  then  ?  " 

"  Just  gone  to  his  tent.  How  did  you  find  out  about 
him?" 

"  That's  a  long  story.  Where's  the  cook  ?  I  must  have 
something  to  eat,  for  Mitchell  forgot  to  invite  me  to 
stay  and  have  a  meal  with  h:m.  Ben,  we're  bounced. 
This  bogus  line  goes  no  further.'' 

As  Jim  sat  at  supper  rn  the  tent  he  told  in  low  voice, 


326  The  Victors 

fearing  other  listeners,  the  story  of  the  two  days.  Near- 
ing  the  end  of  the  narration,  Ben  paced  up  and  down  the 
narrow  limits  of  the  tent  in  great  excitement,  running  his 
fingers  through  his  hair,  and  barking  out  a  question  now 
and  then. 

"  There's  no  use  making  a  fuss  about  it,  Ben,"  con- 
cluded Monro.  "  We're  dismissed,  and  there's  nothing 
more  to  be  said.  And  after  all,  Mitchell  gave  us  fair 
warning  at  the  start." 

"  Oh,  that,"  snapped  Ben,  "  that's  not  wor  Ji  a  moment's 
thought.  Now,  Jim,  will  you  stand  by  me?  " 

"  Of  course." 

"  Sure?  I  tell  you,  Jim,  the  finger  of  the  Lord  is  in 
this !  Our  fortune's  made.  Now  let's  have  a  fair  un- 
derstanding. What  I  fear  is  this  girl.  You're  not  going 
to  allow  her  to  complicate  the  business,  are  you  ?  " 

"  How  do  you  mean,  complicate?  " 

"  Well,  Jim,  plain  out  and  out — you're  a  silent  fellow 
where  women  are  concerned — not  like  me  a  bit — I  tell  you 
everything.  Now,  I  want  to  know  about  this  girl.  Are 
you  in  love  with  her  ?  " 

"  What  has  that  to  do  with  the  matter  ?  " 

"  But  are  you  ?  " 

"  Certainly  not.  I  haven't  as  much  cheek  as  you 
have." 

"  Then  you  can  have  no  objection  to  my  making  a  deal 
with  her  father  ?  " 

"  No-o-o,"  replied  Jim,  slowly ;  "  but  I  shouldn't  like 
you  to  use  any  information  she  gave  me,  or  to  mention  her 
name,  you  know." 

"  That's  all  right.  I'll  never  mention  her  name.  Of 
course,  I'm  going  to  act  on  the  knowledge  I  now  possess, 
but  here's  a  point  that  puzzles  me.  Do  you  imagine  that 
so  shrewd  a  man  as  Mitchell  doesn't  know  the  value  of 
the  concession  he  got  from  the  legislature?  Now  here 
have  certain  people  been  trying  for  months  to  find  out 
what  we  are  doing.  At  any  time  since  we  started  we 
might  have  got  big  money  for  telling  the  little  we  knew. 
Glassthrop  and  Mitchell  warned  us  that  this  would  be 


"  By  a  sealed  compact,  well  ratified  "     327 

the  case,  therefore  they  must  have  known  who  was  going 
to  make  the  inquiry.  Don't  you  think  so?  " 

"  No.  I  imagine  they  intended  it  to  leak  out  that  a 
railway  was  in  progress.  What  they  wanted  concealed 
was  that  they,  the  owners  of  the  land,  were  the  real  pro- 
jectors of  the  railroad." 

"  But  it  doesn't  seem  possible  that,  with  all  this  spying 
going  on,  Mitchell  should  not  have  become  aware  of  the 
value  of  his  franchise. ' 

"  One  would  think  so ;  but  you  must  remember  that  his 
attention  has  been  concentrated  on  the  profit  he  would 
make  by  the  sale  of  his  land,  clearing,  as  he  has  done, 
two  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  the  transaction.  Then, 
railroad  business  is  out  of  his  line.  Besides,  as  you  have 
just  said,  spying  means  secrecy,  and  the  railway  people 
have  been  very  quiet  in  their  investigations." 

"  Well,  I'm  going  to  have  a  try  for  it,  and  if  the  lone 
fisherman  isn't  in  his  bunk  I  intend  to  talk  business 
with  him  now." 

Ben  bolted  out  of  the  tent  and  ran  down  the  bank  to 
the  spot  where  the  fisherman's  canvas  gleamed  white  in 
the  darkness. 

"  Have  you  turned  in  yet,  sir?  "  he  asked. 

"  No.  Lift  up  the  flap  and  enter.  It's  you,  McAl- 
lister, I  take  it  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Ben  as  he  came  in. 

The  tent  of  the  fisherman  was  no  such  rough  and 
ready  affair  as  that  of  the  engineers.  It  had  a  board  floor 
and  all  modern  improvements.  The  manager  sat  in  a  can- 
vas chair  at  a  camp  table  with  many  documents  on  it, 
which  he  casually  covered  with  a  newspaper  as  his  vis- 
itor entered. 

"Anything  new,  McAllister?  You  seem  excited, 
which  is  something  unusual  in  this  quiet  locality." 

"  I  don't  know  that  there's  anything  new,  Mr.  Van 
Ness ;  new  to  me,  perhaps,  but  not  to  you.  I  have  found 
out  who  you  are  and  why  you  are  here,  that  is  all." 

The  manager  maintained  his  impassive  demeanour 
when  the  other  mentioned  his  name,  then  he  said  non- 
ch'alantly : 


328  The  Victors 

"  Well,  that  ought  to  simplify  matters  a  bit,  don't  you 
think?" 

"  I  think  so,  and  that's  why  I'm  here.  Mr.  Van  Ness, 
how  much  are  you  willing  to  pay  for  the  franchise  that 
will  allow  you  to  run  a  railway  through  Boontown 
Notch?" 

"  Are  you  the  possessor  of  the  franchise  ?  " 

"  For  the  sake  of  negotiation,  take  it  for  granted  that 
I  am." 

"  I  thought  you  were  an  employe,  not  a  pr  ncipal? '' 

"  I'll  answer  your  questions  when  you  first  answer 
mine." 

"Which  is?" 

"  How  much  will  you  give  ? ' 

"  How  much  do  you  want  ?  " 

"  A  million." 

Mr.  Van  Ness  threw  back  his  head  and  roared  with 
laughter. 

"  I  wouldn't  give  a  million  for  the  state,"  he  said. 

"  No  more  would  I,  if  I  had  it.  I  merely  mention  the 
amount  as  a  beginning  of  negotiation.  You  seemed  re- 
luctant about  nanr'ng  a  figure,  so  I  name  one.'' 

"  Quite  so.    Well,  what  do  you  say  to  ten  thousand  ?  '' 

"  I  say  that  if  you  wanted  the  concession  and  went  to 
the  legislature  for  it,  you  would  laugh  at  the  idea  of  ten 
thousand  as  a  beginning  of  your  lobbying  fund  alone ;  and 
then  very  likely  you  wouldn't  succeed,  for  the  combined 
opposition  would  outbid  you." 

"  You  take  a  cynical  view  of  the  legislative  function 
for  so  young  a  man.  Doesn't  the  good  of  the  state  count 
for  anything?  The  opening  up  of  a  new  district,  and  all 
that?" 

"  Have  you  found  the  good-of-the-state  idea  of  much 
assistance  to  you,  Mr.  Van  Ness,  in  getting  the  right  to 
go  through  the  Notch  ?  " 

"  Oh,  well,  it  counts,  you  know.  You  must  never  ig- 
nore the  honest  element  either  in  politics  or  business.  My 
experience  is  that  the  man  who  depends  on  bribery,  if 
that's  what  you're  hinting  at,  is  ultimately  as  unsuccessful 
as  the  man  who  has  visionary  notions  about  the  incor- 


"  By  a  sealed  compact,  well  ratified"    329 

ruptibility  of  everybody.  A  judicious  combination  is  the 
winning  card." 

"  Can  honesty  and  dishonesty  be  judiciously  com- 
bined?" 

"  Ah,  now  we  are  wandering  into  the  ethics  of  things. 
Let's  stick  to  the  Notch.  We  will  take  it  that  within  a 
week  you  are  in  a  position  to  make  over  this  franchise  to 
me,  which  means  that  you  are  either  the  possessor  of  it,  or 
that  you  have  an  option  on  it  at  a  certain  price,  and  that 
you  want  to  sell  at  a  profit.  Very  good.  Have  you  any 
objection  to  stating  the  price  you  are  to  pay?  " 

"  I  cannot  yet  tell  what  price  I  shall  have  to  pay." 

"  Then  that  answers  the  question  I  asked  you  a  little 
time  since.  You  do  not  own  the  concession.  You  are 
selling  the  lion's  skin  before  killing  the  lion.  Now,  I  have 
a  shrewd  idea  that  I  know  who  owns  the  concession. 
Mitchell  is  the  man  who  put  it  through ;  he  likely  is  still 
in  possession  of  it.  He  arrived  at  his  ranch  to-day,  my 
men  inform  me,  and  your  comrade  went  to  meet  him. 
The  concession  has  probably  been  offered  to  your  friend, 
and  you  two  have  not  the  capital  in  hand  to  purchase. 
Am  I  right  in  my  surmises  ?  " 

"  Only  partly." 

"  Why  should  I  deal  with  you  ?  Why  not  eliminate  the 
middle  man?  Why  should  I  not  go  direct  to  Mitchell 
and  outbid  you  ?  " 

"  Simply  because  you've  got  some  sense,  Mr.  Van 
Ness." 

"  Flattering,  but  indefinite.     Explain." 

"  The  moment  you  go  to  Mitchell  the  game  is  up.  He's 
just  as  sharp  as  they  make  'em.  When  a  great  railway 
manager  or  anyone  connected  with  him  enters  the  con- 
test, and  Mitchell  gets  a  hint  of  the  value  of  the  conces- 
sion to  wealthy  railway  combinations,  there  need  then 
be  no  laughter  when  a  million  is  mentioned.  You  change 
the  venue  from  the  woods  of  Carolina  to  Broadway,  New 
York,  and  that  is  not  a  cheapening  process,  as  you  are 
well  aware." 

"  Then  Mitchell  does  not  know  the  value  of  his  hold- 
ing?" 


33O  The  Victors 

"  He  does  not." 

"  What  has  he  been  fooling  about  here  for?" 

"  He  has  been  selling  his  land.  He  has  just  sold 
twenty-five  thousand  acres  of  this  forest  for  ten  dollars 
an  acre.  Before  this  engineering  bluff  was  put  up  he 
bought  it  for  one  dollar  an  acre." 

"  I  see.     And  you  have  now  been  discharged  ?  " 

"  Exactly." 

"  Naturally  you  are  disappointed,  and  he  has  offered 
you  the  concession  at  a  price,  so  that  if  you  get  other 
capitalists  to  go  on  with  it  you  are  not  out  of  a  job." 

"  Practically  that's  it,  although,  to  speak  frankly,  no 
price  has  been  named." 

"  If  a  man  wants  to  do  business  with  me  that's  the  way 
I  like  to  hear  him  talk.  Now,  I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do. 
Of  course,  you  understand  I'm  not  acting  for  myself  in 
this,  but  on  behalf  of  certain  companies  in  which  I  am 
interested,  and  which  have  delegated  certain  limited 
powers  to  me.  We  are  willing  to  pay  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  for  the  concession.  You  come  to  terms  with 
Mitchell,  taking  your  friend  as  witness.  If  you  can  buy, 
well  and  good ;  if  not,  get  Mitchell  to  put  down  in  writing 
what  he  will  do ;  then  come  to  me  at  my  private  car  in 
Pillageville,  and  I  will  furnish  the  amount  of  money  you 
lack  to  complete  the  deal.  When  the  franchise  is  made 
over  to  me  I'll  pay  the  rest  of  the  hundred  thousand  to 
you.  Is  that  satisfactory  ?  " 

"  Perfectly." 

"  Very  well.  We'll  just  jot  these  particulars  down  on 
a  couple  of  sheets  of  paper  so  there  can  be  no  misunder- 
standing. You'll  keep  one  and  I  the  other." 

When  this  was  done  and  McAllister  rose  to  go,  Van 
Ness  searching  among  his  papers  brought  forth  a  form  not 
filled  in. 

"  This  is  a  blank  deed  of  transfer.  I  don't  suggest  that 
you  use  it,  but  I  advise  you  to.  read  it  before  you  see 
Mitchell,  so  that  you  may  be  able  to  judge  approximately 
whether  or  not  the  document  you  get  from  him  is  what  it 
should  be.  Of  course  it  would  be  better  to  fill  in  these 
blanks  and  have  them  signed  and  witnessed  properly,  but 


11  By  a  sealed  compact,  well  ratified"    331 

if  you  come  to  him  too  well  equipped,  he  may  suspect  at 
once  that  there  is  more  in  this  than  appears  on  the  sur- 
face, and  so  may  break  off  negotiations.  He  will  know 
that  these  blank  forms  do  not  grow  in  the  woods  of 
North  Carolina.  Probably  he  has  one  or  more  of  these 
forms  in  his  own  possession,  and  if  he  is  dealing  squarely 
with  you,  which  is  always  possible,  may  use  it.  Your 
friend*  and  one  of  his  own  men  should  sign  as  witnesses. 
I  may  say  that  it  is  advisable  in  a  case  like  this  to  close 
the  negotiations  at  the  first  interview  if  you  can.  The 
matter,  as  I  understand  it,  will  require  not  too  eager 
handling.  Tact  is  necessary,  but  it  is  in  the  successful 
manipulation  of  such  materials  as  are  at  your  disposal 
that  money  is  made.  Have  you  any  cash  to  pay  down  ?  " 

"  Jim  and  I  together  have  over  a  thousand  dollars  in 
the  Pillageville  bank." 

"  Have  you  got  a  cheque  book  with  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  Then  1  advise  you  to  give  him  your  cheques  for  as 
much  as  you  will  be  able  to  pay  when  you  receive  his 
document.  Take  a  receipt  for  it  and  promise  the  rest,  say, 
within  a  week,  or  such  time  as  will  give  you  the  oppor- 
tunity for  getting  the. remainder.  Go  cautiously,  but  not 
too  cautiously,  and  luck  be  with  you.  Good-night." 

When  McAllister  got  outside  of  the  tent  he  drew  a 
deep  breath  of  the  cool  mountain  air.  "  It's  too  good  to 
be  true,"  he  whispered  to  himself.  "  It  can't  be  true.  O 
Lord,  guide  me  that  I  make  no  mistake !  " 

Van  Ness  sat  in  his  tent,  looking  straight  ahead  of  him, 
a  frown  wrinkling  h:s  fine  intellectual  brow.  "  What 
hardened  villains  business  makes  of  us !  "  he  said  to  him- 
self. "  It's  a  shame  to  take  advantage  of  the  simple  in- 
nocence of  that  young  man.  The  franchise  is  cheap  at 
half  a  million,  but,  alas !  business  is  business." 


CHAPTER    III 

"THE  DEVIL  SHALL   HAVE   HIS  BARGAIN" 

NEXT  day  the  two  young  men,  accompanied  by  the 
camp  followers,  with  the  tents,  instruments,  and  other 
paraphernalia  of  their  outing,  went  through  the  forest  to 
the  ranch  where  Mr.  Mitchell  hoped  to  recover  health 
and  tone.  The  impedimenta  was  placed  in  a  shed,  the 
workmen  lounged  about  smoking,  while  the  two  engineers 
entered  the  large  log  house  for  their  final  interview  with 
their  late  employer.  Both  were  in  a  state  of  suppressed 
excitement,  but  neither  wished  to  show  it.  Each  felt  that 
the  success  of  his  life  depended  on  the  outcome  of  this 
momentous  conference.  Ben  was  to  do  the  talking;  Jim 
was  to  be  the  silent  onlooker.  It  was  to  be  a  contest,  not 
of  spoken  lies  perhaps — Ben's  principles  would  not  admit 
of  his  telling  a  falsehood — but  the  lies  were  to  be  acted, 
if  either  of  them  had  gone  deep  enough  into  his  inner 
consciousness  to  realise  that  fact. 

Mitchell  received  them  with  much  of  his  old  impassive 
calm.  He  said  he  already  felt  a  great  deal  better;  the 
mountain  air  was  reviving  him,  and  the  car  wheels  rolling 
over  his  brain  would  soon  cease  their  rumbling.  In  fact 
he  had  had,  for  he  first  time  in  weeks,  a  reasonably  good 
night's  sleep.  These  preliminaries  of  polite  inquiry  and 
answer  being  over,  Mitchell  became  the  alert  man  of 
business  at  once ;  seated  himself  at  a  desk,  asked  them  to 
draw  up  chairs  near  it,  called  for  accounts  and  statements, 
ran  through  them  rapidly  but  minutely,  seeming  to  under- 
stand their  import  at  a  glance.  He  had  a  keen  scent  for 
the  most  trivial  error,  demanding  explanations  wherever 
anything  was  obscure,  and  comparing  vouchers  with 
swift  conclusiveness.  Jim  looked  on  in  amazement.  Here 
sat  a  man  who  was  in  possession  of  two  hundred  thou- 

332 


"The  Devil  shall  have  his  bargain"     333 

sand  dollars  through  their  efforts.  Had  they  been  dis- 
honest or  talkative  men  he  could  not  have  carried  through 
his  scheme  to  success;  yet  he  was  verifying  minute 
details  to  the  last  cent.  Surely  after  it  was  all  balanced 
and  found  correct  he  would  at  least  offer  something  extra 
to  the  working  men  outside?  But  it  was  not  so.  He 
counted  out  from  his  cash  box  the  precise  amount  due 
to  each,  wrote,  with  his  own  hand,  receipts  in  full,  had 
these  signed,  and  the  men  were  curtly  dismissed  without 
even  a  word  of  thanks.  Business. 

Ben  and  Jim  took  what  was  their  due,  having  appended 
signatures  to  the  documents  presented  to  them,  and  then 
Mitchell  leaned  back  in  his  chair  with  an  air  of  conclu- 
sion, which  said  plainly  to  them :  "  Now  what  are  you  two 
waiting  for  ?  "  What  he  said  aloud  was  :  "  You  can  ride 
back  in  the  buggy,  which  will  oblige  me,  and  make  the 
journey  comfortable  to  yourselves." 

Ben  caught  his  breath,  cast  his  eyes  on  the  floor,  and 
began  the  diplomatic  battle. 

"  I  suppose,  Mr.  Mitchell,  there  is  little  use  in  asking 
if  you  or  Mr.  Glassthrop — if  there  is  any  chance  that  you 
may  reconsider  your  determination — the  conclusion  which 
my  friend  tells  me  you  have  come  to,  and  go  on  with  the 
road?" 

"  Not  the  slightest  chance  of  it/' 

"  But  if  you  should  change  your  minds,  would  you  have 
any  objection  to  employing  us  again?'' 

"  Certainly.  If  we  were  such  fools  as  to  go  on  with  the 
road,  we  should  employ  competent  engineers.  I  am  an 
honest  man,  and  there  is  no  good  in  holding  out  to  you 
polite  hopes  that  will  never  be  fulfilled." 

"  But  don't  you  think  such  a  road  would  pay  ? '' 

"Do  you  think  so?" 

"Why  shouldn't  it?" 

"  Simply  because  there  is  neither  freight  nor  passenger 
traffic  to  go  over  it.  Isn't  that  reason  enough  ?  " 

"  But  there  is  the  timber.'' 

"How  long  would  that  last?  Could  you  get  enough 
out  of  the  freight  on  the  logs  or  the  lumber  to  pay  for 


334  The  Victors 

your  roadbed  and  your  right  of  way,  not  to  mention  roll- 
ing stock?  Of  course  you  couldn't,  and  after  the  timber 
was  gone,  where  would  you  be?  Wait  another  century 
for  more  trees  to  grow  ?  No,  sir.  It  isn't  good  enough/' 

"  Don't  you  think  a  company  might  be  formed — you 
said  you  and  Mr.  Glassthrop  formed  companies — '' 

"  Yes,  but  we  must  have  something  to  form  a  company 
on.  I  have  no  doubt  it  could  be  done — .  Companies  can 
be  promoted  for  any  fool  purpose,  but  we  wouldn't  touch 
it.  In  the  first  place  it  is  not  in  our  line ;  we  don't  handle 
railroads ;  come  smash  if  we  attempted  it.  Too  much 
capital  required ;  too  much  risk,  and  too  much  swindling 
by  the  heads  of  the  concerns.  They  want  to  do  all  the 
grabbing  themselves,  and  they  could  easily  freeze  us  out, 
for,  as  I  told  your  friend  yesterday,  we  are  but  poor  men 
in  New  York.  Poor  but  honest,  a:  the  saying  is,  and  we 
can't  buck  against  Wall  Street.  But  don't  let  me  discour- 
age you.  For  all  I  know,  you  two  may  be  the  coming 
railroad  kings  of  America.  I've  seen  stranger  things  than 
that  happen.  If  you  want  to  try  your  hand,  I'll  let  you 
have  the  franchise  cheap;  I'm  through  with  it." 

"  Don't  you  think  an  inexpensive  logging  railway,  such 
as  they  have  in  the  woods  of  northern  Michigan,  might 
pay — a  road  with  no  cuttings,  no  embankments,  laid  with 
second-hand  rails,  and  equipped  with  old  discarded  roll- 
ing stock?" 

"  I  don't  know  but  it  would ;  still,  as  I  tell  you,  all  that 
is  out  of  my  line.  I'd  be  glad  to  see  you  build  it,  though ; 
it  wouldn't  hurt  my  property  a  little  bit." 

"  Would  you  put  any  money  in  such  a  line  if  we  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  up  a  small  company  to  go  on  with  ?  " 

"  Not  a  cent." 

"  Even  if  railroads,  logging  or  otherwise,  are  out  of 
your  line,  you  can  give  us  a  hint  as  to  the  possibility  of 
getting  up  money  for  such  an  enterprise.  What  would 
be  our  chances  ?  " 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know.  You  never  can  tell  what  two  young 
energetic  men  might  do.  I  should  say  there's  a  fair  fight- 
ing chance  for  you,  depending  altogether  on  how  you  set 


"  The  Devil  shall  have  his  bargain "    335 

about  it,  and  whether  you  can  interest  capitalists  in  it; 
depending,  too, a  little  on  talk, but  not  so  much  as  people 
suppose,  for  a  great  deal  more  rests  with  the  project  you 
place  before  them.  Do  you  know  any  capitalists  ?  " 

"  One,  but  he  says  he  won't  touch  it." 

"  Meaning  me.  Well,  you  see,  I  never  meddle  with 
anything  I  can't  control,  and  which  I  know  nothing  about, 
but  I'm  willing  to  help  you  at  the  start  by  letting  you  have 
the  franchise  cheap.  I'm  always  willing  to  sell  anything 
I've  got."  He  stooped  down,  opened  a  drawer  in  the 
desk,  pulled  a  paper  from  within,  and  threw  it  on  the 
table.  "  There  is  the  document  with  possibilities  of  wealth 
in  it  for  two  young  speculators.  How  much  will  you  give 
for  it?" 

Ben  slowly  shook  his  head. 

"You  wouldn't  let  us  have  it  on  spec,  would  you?" 

"  You  mean,  make  it  over  to  you  and  trust  to  chance 
for  getting  anything  for  it  ?  No,  sir.  I  never  do  business 
that  way.  I  sell  cheap,  but  on  a  cash  basis.  How  much 
money  have  you  got  ?  " 

"  I've  got  five  hundred  dollars  in  the  Pillageville  bank." 

Mitchell  tossed  the  document  back  into  its  former 
place  again,  and  kicked  the  drawer  shut  with  his  foot. 

"  Five  hundred  dollars !  What's  the  use  wasting  time 
talking  about  five  hundred  dollars  ?  I  wouldn't  walk  to 
the  foot  of  my  ranch  for  five  hundred  dollars." 

"  I'll  lend  you  my  five  hundred  dollars,"  said  Jim, 
speaking  for  the  first  time,  "  but,  like  Mr.  Mitchell,  I  won't 
have  anything  to  do  with  the  matter  myself." 

"  There,  you  see,  your  credit  is  good/'  put  in  Mitchell 
with  a  smile  that  was  half  a  sneer.  "  A  man  whose  credit 
is  good  can  do  much  in  this  country,  except  during  a 
panic." 

"  Well,  it's  like  this,  Mr.  Mitchell,  if  we  succeed,  we 
raise  the  price  of  the  property  you  hold  anywhere  up  to 
half  a  million  or  so.  You  ought  to  take  that  into  consider- 
ation." 

"  ff  you  succeed !     There's  a  lot  in  that  '  if.'  " 

"  If  we  don't,  then  we  lose  our  money,  and  your  fran- 


336  The  Victors 

chise  is  just  so  much  waste  paper.  A  thousand  dollars  is 
a  good  deal  to  pay  for  a  bit  of  waste  paper." 

"  Quite  so,  but  what  is  waste  paper  in  useless  hands 
becomes  property  when  the  right  man  takes  hold  of  it. 
You  offer  me  a  thousand  dollars,  cash,  mind,  no  three 
months  from  date  business." 

"  Certainly.    Cash  down.'' 

"  All  right,  the  franchise  is  yours.  Got  your  cheque 
books  with  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Jim  and  Ben  simultaneously. 

"  Well,  we've  talked  more  about  it  than  the  whole 
thing  is  worth ;  you  write  your  cheques  and  I'll  make  out 
a  transfer." 

As  they  wrote  their  cheques  they  saw  him  take  from 
another  drawer  a  blank  form,  similar  to  the  one  Ben  had 
in  his  pocket,  and,  with  the  rapidity  of  long  familiarity,  fill 
it  out.  Once  he  looked  up  sharply  and  said  to  McAllister : 

"  I  am  selling  to  you  alone ;  not  to  the  two  of  you." 

"  To  me  alone,''  replied  Ben. 

"  Then  Monro  can  witness  this,  with  my  man." 

The  man  was  called  in  and  appended  his  signature  un- 
der that  of  Monro.  Mitchell  glanced  at  the  two  cheques 
for  five  hundred  dollars  each  and  pinned  them  together. 

"  Now,  gentlemen,  I  propose  to  send  my  man  to  Pil- 
lageville  with  all  these  documents.  He  will  go  to  the 
bank,  present  the  cheques  and  then  hand  the  other  papers 
to  you.  This  is  no  imputation  on  your  good  faith  at  all, 
but  merely  business.  If  I  were  you,  I  should  take  this 
deed  of  transfer  to  a  lawyer  there  and  have  him  look  it 
over,  and  tell  you  whether  it  is  all  right  or  not.  That's 
no  imputation  on  me.  If  he  makes  alterations  you  can 
bring  it  back  here  and  I  will  initial  the  changes,  or  you 
can  get  him  to  write  out  a  new  deed  which  I  will  sign. 
Anything  else  I  can  do  for  you  ?  " 

"  Nothing  else,  thank  you,  Mr.  Mitchell." 

"  Then  I'll  bid  you  good-bye.  I  feel  a  little  tired  over 
even  this  trivial  amount  of  business,  an.l  I  want  to  get 
out  into  the  open  air  again.  I  may  say  there  is  just  as 
much  chance  of  your  getting  up  a  company  for  a  logging 
railway,  or  any  other,  as  there  is  of  your  getting  to  the 


"  The  Devil  shall  have  his  bargain  "     337 

inoon,  but  that's  your  affair,  not  mine.  A  little  experience 
.won't  hurt  either  of  you,  and  so,  good-day,  gentlemen.'' 

Mitchell's  man  got  astride  a  horse  and  galloped  on 
ahead.  The  buggy  and  team  of  horses  that  had  taken 
Mitchell  to  the  ranch  the  day  before  was  standing  in  readi- 
ness, and  into  the  vehicle  climbed  McAllister  and  Monro, 
the  face  of  the  former  pale  with  excitement.  Ben 
breathed  quickly,  like  a  man  who  had  won  a  hard  race. 
Jim  took  up  the  reins  and  drove  off. 

"  Well,  Benny,"  he  said  at  last,  "  was  the  Lord  your 
partner  in  this  deal?  " 

"  You  bet  he  was!  "  cried  Ben  with  enthusiasm. 

"  I  don't  believe  it.  The  devil  presided  over  that 
negotiation,  and  how  he  must  have  chuckled !  There  was 
Mitchell  taking,  as  he  thought,  advantage  of  two  green- 
horns ;  selling  what  he  regarded  as  a  bit  of  useless  paper 
for  all  the  money  we  had.  I  saw  him  figuring  up  our  forty 
dollars  a  week  on  a  sheet  of  paper  to  make  sure  he  was 
rooking  us  of  every  penny  we  possessed.  That's  why  he 
threw  the  document  into  the  drawer  again.  He  knew 
there  was  another  five  hundred  in  our  possession,  and  he 
was  not  going  to  let  us  escape  till  he  got  it  in  his 
clutches.  And  at  last,  he  quite  cynically  admits  we 
have  no  chance  of  ever  getting  our  money  back, 
after  having  pretended  he  thought  there  was  something 
in  your  scheme  for  a  logging  railway.  And  yet,  of  the 
two  of  you,  he  strikes  me  as  the  more  honest,  for  never 
did  you  give  him  a  hint  that  you  were  betting  on  a  sure 
thing." 

"  And  what  about  you,  sitting  there  and  saying  noth- 
ing, yet  knowing  you  were  going  to  benefit  as  much  as  I  ? 
Isn't  there  a  dishonesty  of  silence  as  well  as  a  dishonesty 
of  speech  ?  " 

"  Oh,  me !  Well,  I  think  I'm  the  worst  of  the  lot ;  and 
yet  I  don't  know.  I  don't  drag  in  the  Lord  as  you  do, 
and  I'm  not  plainly  partner  with  the  devil,  as  Mitchell 
is.  Half  a  dozen  times  I  felt  like  shouting  out,  '  O  you 
precious  pa:r  of  scoundrels ! '  The  fact  that  I  repressed 
myself  shows  me  to  be  as  great  a  scoundrel  as  either." 

"  Ninety-nine   thousand    dollars,   Jimmy ;   ninety-nine 

22 


338  The  Victors 

thousand  clear  dollars ;  forty-nine  thousand  five  hundred 
each !  Not  a  scrap  of  writing  between  us,  not  even  the 
spoken  promise,  yet  you  know  you're  going  to  get 
that  money  as  sure  as  I  get  it.  You  can  hardly  accuse 
a  man  who  will  dividers  fair  as  that  of  dishonesty?  " 

"  I  have  an  old-fashioned  notion,  Ben,  that  this  money, 
if  we  really  secure  it,  which  I  doubt,  will  not  do  us  a  bit 
of  jrood.  I  feel  it  in  my  bones.'' 

"  If  we  get  it?     Why  do  you  say  that?  " 

"  It  seems  to  me  there  must  be  a  trip-up  somewhere  for 
two  such  villains  as  we  are.  Surely,  we  are  walking  into 
a  trap  of  some  sort.  We  deserve  it  so.'' 

"  Don't,  Jimmy,  don't !  Don't  talk  like  that.  It  is  my 
own  fear,  and  I'm  all  in  a  tremble.  While  we  were  talk- 
ing to  Mitchell  my  knees  began  to  wobble  backward  and 
forward,  and  my  heels  to  chatter  against  the  floor.  I 
couldn't  control  my  muscles,  and  felt  as  if  I  must  scream 
or  go  crazy.  My  nerves  are  all  racked  to  pieces,  and 
if  we  slip  up  now,  with  the  money  almost  in  our  grasp — 
I — I,  well,  I  don't  know  just  what  will  happen." 

"  Oh,  I  know.  As  the  wicked  partner,  I'll  do  the 
swearing  for  the  firm,  and  we'll  get  some  work  that  will 
earn  our  bread  and  butter ;  wiser  people  than  we  were 
before,  having  lost  a  thousand  dollars  and  learned  some- 
thing in  return  for  the  money.  That's  what  will  hap- 
pen." 

"  If  you  knew  how  queer  I  am  feeling,  Jimmy,  you 
would  have  more  mercy  than  to  talk  in  the  way  you  are 
doing.  If  you  can't  talk  sense,  keep  quiet ;  that's  easy." 

"  You  said  just  now  it  wasn't.     Brace  up,  Benny;  you 
are  as  white  as  a  ghost,  and  if  it  will  do  you  any  good  to< 
shout,  bellow  away ;  we  are  in  the  wilderness,  and  there's 
no  one  to  hear  you." 

"  It  means  so  much  more  to  me  than  it  does  to  you." 

"  Why,  if  you're  going  to  divide  up  even?  I  confess 
I  think  you  ought  to  have  the  lion's  share.  Now  is  your 
time  to  dicker  with  me.  I'll  compound  the  felony  at  the 
present  moment  for  quarter  the  money,  but  once  I  get  my 
"hands  on  it,  I'm  not  so  sure  I  would  let  any  of  it  go.  Why 
does  it  mean  more  to  you  than  to  me  ?  " 


"The  Devil  shall  have  his  bargain"     339 

"  Because,  Jimmy,  if  we  really  gain  the  actual  money, 
I'm  going  to  get  married  right  away." 

"  Ah !  Are  you  going  -to  tell  the  stern  old  gospeller  at 
Stormboro  how  you  gained  the  cash?  You  will  want 
his  consent,  you  know." 

"  I've  got  his  daughter's  consent ;  that's  enough  for 
me." 

"  I  know  the  old  man.  It's  to  be  a  run-away  match,  I 
take  it." 

"  If  necessary,"  said  Ben  shortly,  in  a  tone  that  closed 
the  discussion.  There  was  too  much  anxiety  on  the 
young  man's  m'nd  to  make  conjectural  discourse  a  pleas- 
ure. He  nervously  jerked  the  whip  from  its  socket  and 
struck  one  of  the  horses,  and  for  a  few  minutes  Jim  had 
a  panic-stricken  team'  to  control,  the  slight  buggy  sway- 
ing from  side  to  side  on  the  rough  road  like  a  skiff  in  a 
storm.  Jim  mastered  his  horses  in  grim  silence,  then 
took  the  whip  from  the  other  gently  and  said : 

"  I'll  attend  to  this  end  of  the  show  unassisted,  if  you 
don't  mind." 

"  That  horseman  is  away  ahead  of  us,  and  I  want  to 
get  there  as  soon  as  possible,  for  I  can't  tell  what  game 
Mitchell  may  have  been  up  to.  His  man  has  both  cheques 
and  the  papers." 

"  I  want  to  get  there,  too,  but  I  think  we'll  transact 
business  better  if  we  reach  Pillageville  with  unbroken 
limbs." 

The  horses,  with  palpitating  sides  and  smoking  flanks, 
finally  drew  up  at  the  door  of  the  bank.  Mitchell's  man 
was  standing  on  the  sidewalk  at  the  front,  his  horse 
tied  to  a  post.  He  handed  the  documents  to  Ben  and 
sa:d : 

"  I  was  to  wait  until  you  had  seen  the  lawyer." 

"  All  right ;  I'll  be  back  in  a  moment." 

McAllister  left  Jim  and  went  direct  to  the  private  car 
at  the  end  of  the  station  yard.  There  was  no  need  for 
consulting  a  lawyer,  if  the  documents  were  satisfactory  to 
Van  Ness.  He  found  the  manager  waiting  for  him,  and 
with  him  was  a  lawyer,  so  that  Ben  had  done  well  to 
go  to  the  private  car  direct. 


340  The  Victors 

The  legal  gentleman  read  the  papers  carefully,  and 
pronounced  them  in  proper  form,  whereupon  he  took  his 
departure,  leaving  the  two  negotiants  together.  The 
manager  was  the  first  to  speak. 

"  You  have  succeeded  admirably,"  he  said.  "  I  won't 
ask  you  how  much  you  have  paid,  for  that  is  none  of  my 
business,  but  I  made  up  my  mind  to-day  that  if  you  pulled 
this  off  in  time  for  me  to  attach  my  car  to  the  noon  ex- 
press, I  would  give  you  five  thousand  dollars  extra  to  help 
pay  expenses,  and  leave  you  in  good  humour  over  your 
bargain.  No,  not  a  word !  As  I  told  you  last  night, 
I  am  acting  largely  for  others,  so  perhaps  that  explains 
my  seeming  generosity.  It  is  easy  to  be  lavish  with  other 
people's  money.  Here  is  a  cheque  for  one  hundred  and 
five  thousand  dollars,  and  if  you  will  just  sign  this  re- 
ceipt, and  this  second  deed  of  transfer,  we  will  consider 
the  business  at  an  end.  I  have  a  couple  of  men  here  who 
will  witness  your  signature.'' 

Thus  the  transaction  was  terminated  to  the  eminent 
satisfaction  of  all  concerned,  for  each  party  to  the  chaf- 
fering believed  in  his  heart  that  he  had  cheated  the  per- 
son with  whom  he  negotiated. 


CHAPTER    IV 

"  YOUR    EXPOSITION    ON    THE    HOLY    TEXT  " 

BEFORE  the  train  came  in  which  was  to  carry  him  north- 
ward, Ben  went  to  the  hotel  and  wrote  a  hurried  letter  to 
Miss  Constance  Fraser  of  Stormboro,  111.  He  told  her 
that  as  soon  as  he  had  done  an  hour's  business  in  New 
York  he  was  coming  west  to  marry  her,  travelling  by 
the  fastest  train  the  lines  leading  sunsetwards  afforded. 
He  now  possessed  fifty-two  thousand  dollars,  and  he 
thought  this  was  capital  enough  to  begin  housekeeping 
on.  She  should  have  no  more  school  drudgery,  thank 
God;  .and  it  would  be  his  study  throughout  life  to  get 
for  her  everything  she  wanted.  He  hinted  that  perhaps 
this  accumulation  of  wealth,  so  quickly  won,  would  induce 
her  father  to  withdraw  the  objection  he  had  held  against 
their  engagement  and  give  his  sanction  to  their  speedy 
marriage.  The  time,  formerly  discussed  in  their  school- 
house  interview,  had  come  when  she  must  choose  between 
her  father  and  himself,  if  such  a  choice  unfortunately 
became  necessary  through  the  reverend  gentleman's  con- 
tinued prejudice  against  him.  Perhaps  a  hint  of  th-'s 
might  help  to  soften  the  inevitable  interview  between  her 
father  and  his  prospective  son-in-law.  He  boasted  just 
a  little  about  the  money.  He  had  always  said  he  would 
be  rich,  and  this  was  but  a  first  instalment  of  what  he 
would  accumulate  when  he  got  into  business  in  New 
York,  aided  and  comforted  by  her  advice  and  compan:on- 
ship.  And  so,  hoping  speedily  to  clasp  her  in  his  arms, 
he  remained  her  true  lover,  Ben  McAllister. 

On  the  way  to  New  York  Ben  persuaded  his  friend  to 
come  west  with  him  and  see  him  through  that  important 
crisis,  the  marriage  service.  Jim  was  rather  reluctant ;  he 
had  not  the  calm  confidence  which  Ben  possessed  that  the 

34' 


342  The  Victors 

ceremony  would  take  place  so  soon,  but  the  prospective 
groom  was  jubilantly  optimistic,  and  would  take  no  de- 
nial. He  would  carry  the  girl  off,  he  said,  in  spite  of  her 
own  opposition,  or  that  of  anyone  else. 

Their  journey  westward  on  this  occasion  was  under 
different  auspices  to  the  trip  they  had  taken  to  Chicago 
only  a  few  months  before,  and  in  that  difference  lies  the 
meaning  of  America.  Then,  the  empty  wheat  car  at- 
tached to  the  slow  freight,  a  few  dollars  in  the  pocket ; 
now,  the  swift  Limited,  and  the  luxurious  Pullman,  with 
an  amount  of  money  that  seemed  inexhaustible.  To- 
morrow, what?  The  tardy  freight  again,  perhaps,  or  a 
special  train. 

Jim  quitted  the  palace  car  at  Selbourn,  the  station  be- 
fore Stormboro,  there  to  be  in  telegraphic  communica- 
tion with  Ben ;  to  engage  a  clergyman  in  an  emer- 
gency, if  necessary ;  to  see  after  a  license,  of  which  the 
knew  nothing,  and  in  the  event  of  all  else  failing,  to  ar- 
range for  a  marriage  before  a  justice.  Ben  continued  his 
journey  alone,  having  telegraphed  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Fraser 
the  hour  at  which  he  would  call  upon  him. 

He  found  the  old  gentleman  waiting  for  him  in  his 
study,  and  in  the  ominous  coldness  of  his  reception  all 
Ben's  former  fear  of  the  professor  rose  again  within  him, 
and  he  felt  once  more  the  snubbed  boy  at  college,  as  those 
unsympathetic  eyes  gazed  steadily  and  unflinchingly  at 
him  over  the  steel-rimmed  spectacles.  There  was  a  mu- 
tual dislike  between  the  two  men,  which  the  elder  took 
little  pains  to  conceal.  Mr.  Fraser  waved  his  thin  white 
hand  towards  a  chair  that  stood  opposite  the  table  at 
which  he  sat,  and  McAllister  sat  down,  red  in  the  face, 
and  as  uncomfortable  as  a  man  may  well  be.  The  two- 
storied  cottage  was  as  silent  as  if  it  had  never  been  in- 
habited. The  professor  had  evidently  cleared  the  decks 
for  action. 

"  I  received  your  telegram."  he  began,  "  but  I  may  say 
that  a  slight  conversation  I  previously  had  with  my 
daughter  led  me  to  expect  a  visit,  and  gave  me  some  inti- 
mation of  its  purport." 

"  May  I  ask,  sir,  where  your  daughter  is  at  this  mo- 
ment?" 


"  Your  exposition  on  the  holy  text "     343 

"  She  is  where  she  should  be,  attending  to  her  duties 
at  the  school." 

"  I  have  come  from  New  York  to  ask  your  permission 
to  marry  her,  she  having  already  given  her  consent." 

"  Such  I  understood  to  be  your  intention.  I  formerly 
refused  my  assent  to  an  engagement,  which  it  seems  you 
have  entered  into  wkhout  my  concurrence.  Why  should 
I  look  favourably  upon  a  marriage  when  I  could  not  sanc- 
tion a  betrothal  ?  " 

"  Because  circumstances  have  changed  since  then. 
There  may  have  been  some — some  excuse — some  under- 
standing of  your  disapproval  then,  because  I  was  poor, 
with  little  or  no  money,  and  apparently,  as  far  as  your 
judgment  went,  with  small  prospect  of  earning  any.  That 
no  longer  can  be  held  against  me.  I  have  now  more  than 
fifty  thousand  dollars  in  the  bank,  and  I  am  in  business 
partnership  with  my  old  college  friend,  who  has  as  much 
more.'' 

"  Lack  of  money  had  little  to  do  with  my  objection  to 
you  as  a  son-in-law,  and  I  find  that  the  statement  of 
the  sum  you  name  makes  but  small  impression  on  my 
mind." 

"  Perhaps  if  you  cared  as  much  for  your  daughter  as 
I  do  it  would  make  a  greater  impression.  It  means,  Mr. 
Fraser,  that  she  will  not  have  to  rise  early  every  morn- 
ing and  trudge  out  into  the  country,  rain  or  shine-,  and 
drudge  at  the  earning  of  her  own  living." 

"  I  am  not  of  those  who  believe  idleness  a  blessing,  or 
the  earning  of  one's  own  living  derogatory  to  character. 
Holy  Scripture  enjoins  industry  upon  each  of  us,  and  my 
daughter's  choice  of  an  occupation  is  entirely  her  own,  al- 
though I  may  say  that  it  meets  my  approbation  much 
more  than  does  her  inclination  for  you." 

"  What   have   you   to   urge   against   me  ?  " 

"  My  reading  of  your  character  leads  me  to  suppose 
that  it  is  an  essentially  light  and  frivolous  one.  I  think 
you  are  unstable,  flighty,  with  no  fixed  principles,  flitting 
airily  from  one  employment  to  another.  I  hear  that  since 
you  left  the  college  you  have  employed  whatever  educa- 
tion you  acquired  and  whatever  talents  you  possess,  first, 


344  The  Victors 

in  peddling  like  a  vagabond  about  the  country ;  then  in 
some  political'partnership  with  some  disreputable  person ; 
next  I  hear  of  you  in  Chicago,  in  New  York,  in  Montreal, 
in  one  of  the  southern  states.  All  this  corroborates  the 
opinion  I  had  formed  of  you." 

"  Does  it  ever  occur  to  you  that  you  may  be  wrong 
in  your  estimate  ?  Is  the  text,  '  Judge  not  that  ye  be  not 
judged/  eliminated  from  your  Bible?  " 

"  My  dear  sir,  your  flippant  quotation  from  the  Bible 
but  bears  out  what  I  have  said  of  you.  Judgment  implies 
a  following  sentence.  That  judgment  I  leave  to  God, 
as  he  commands  me  to  do,  '  Vengeance  is  mine  and  I  will 
repay,'  saith  the  Lord." 

"  That  text  must  be  a  great  consolation  to  you,  Mr. 
Eraser." 

"  But  while  we  leave  judgment  and  vengeance  to  the 
Lord,  we  are  nevertheless  enjoined  to  be  careful  of  the 
company  we  keep,  and  in  the  selecting  of  that  company 
we  must  exercise  qualities  which  may  seem  to  an  imma- 
ture and  ill-balanced  mind  like  yours  to  resemble  those  of 
the  judge.  '  Blessed  is  the  man  that  walketh  not  in  the 
counsel  of  the  wicked,  nor  standeth  in  the  way  of  sin- 
ners.' ': 

"  Aye,  continue  the  quotation,  Mr.  Fraser;  '  Nor  sitteth 
in  the  seat  of  the  scornful,'  where  you  have  now  so  self- 
righteously  placed  yourself." 

"  You  pervert  the  text,  sir/'  cried  the  reverend  gentle- 
man, speaking  for  the  first  time  with  the  heat  of  con- 
troversy. "  '  Scornful '  in  that  connection  means  scorn  of 
the  Almighty." 

"  That  is  a  matter  of  opinion.  It  may  be  that  in  scorn- 
ing the  least  of  his  creatures  you  are,  through  him,  scorn- 
ing that  creature's  Creator." 

"  The  devil  quotes  Scripture  to  serve  his  own  pur- 
poses." 

"  That,  sir,  is  what  I  have  been  endeavouring  to  imply." 

"  If  you  think  there  is  anything  to  be  gained  by  com- 
ing to  browbeat  me  in  my  own  house  you  are  very  much 
mistaken.  I  am  not  to  be  frightened  from  the  path  of 
rectitude." 


"  Your  exposition  on  the  holy  text "     345 

"  I  have  no  such  intention.  I  do  not  even  hope  to 
frighten  you  into  that  path.  If  you  will  pardon  me,  you 
are  looking  at  this  serious  question,  which  affects  you 
but  remotely,  entirely  from  your  own  personal  point  of 
view.  Your  daughter  and  myself  are  the  persons  who 
will  suffer  if  a  mistake  is  made.  Has,  then,  your  child's 
preference  no  weight  with  you  ?  " 

"  It  has  great  weight  with  me,  but  my  daughter's  pref- 
erence now,  and  her  preference  five  years  hence,  may  be 
two  vastly  different  things.  I  am  placed  here  by  Provi- 
dence as  her  counsellor  and  guardian.  It  is  my  duty  to 
prevent  her  making  a  mistake  which  may  result  in  life- 
long unhappiness.  She  is  an  inexperienced  girl ;  it  is  my 
desire  that  she  profit  by  such  small  store  of  wisdom  as  a 
longer  life  has  enabled  me  to  accumulate.  Come  back  to 
me  five  years  from  now,  if  you  are  both  of  the  same  mind, 
and  bring  me  proof  that  you  have  been  diligent  in  busi- 
ness, fearing  the  Lord,  and  I  will  withdraw  my  oppo  • 
sition  to  your  union." 

"  We  are  both  of  the  same  mind,  and  I  come  to  you 
now  with  that  proof.  Why  then  should  we  wait  ?  Take 
no  thought  of  the  morrow,  says  the  good  Book,  now  is  the 
appointed  time." 

"  Again  you  pervert  the  words  you  should  use  with 
thoughtful  reverence.  Now,  is  the  appointed  time  for 
salvation ;  not  for  marriage." 

"  Marriage  and  salvation  are  often  synonymous.  The 
wife  shall  leave  father  and  mother  and  cling  to  her  hus- 
band. Stand  you  not  in  the  way  of  the  fulfilment  of  that 
holy  law." 

"  She  is  not  yet  your  wife,  but  she  is  still  my  daugh- 
ter. Honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother;  obey  those  set 
in  authority  over  you,  are  commands  not  less  imperative 
than  the  one  you  have  misquoted." 

"  I  have  not  misquoted  the  spirit  of  the  text.  But  to 
return  to  the  practical  point.  I  say  I  am  now  ready  to 
supply  the  proof  you  demand  five  years  hence.  I  have 
been  diligent  in  business.  There  is  deposited  in  a  bank 
in  New  York  fifty-two  thousand  dollars  that  belongs  to 


346  The  Victors 

me.  They  are  paying  me  four  per  cent,  on  that  deposit, 
which,  if  I  did  nothing  else  with  the  principal,  would 
give  me  an  annual  income  of  over  two  thousand  dollars 
a  year,  a  sum  in  excess  of  any  yearly  income  you  have  ever 
succeeded  in  acquiring  with  all  your  boasted  experience. 
You  are  talking  to  me  as  if  you  were  an  experienced  man 
reprimanding  a  shiftless  boy,  lecturing  me  as  a  conceited 
teacher  lectures  a  despised  pupil.  I  want  you  to  under- 
stand, sir,  that  this  is  not  a  case  of  a  man  talking  to  a 
boy  but  of  a  fifty-thousand  dollar  man  talking  to  an  in- 
dividual worth  three  thousand  dollars  at  the  utmost.'' 

"  There  speaks  the  arrogance  of  youth,  with  the  letter 
of  the  law  on  his  lips  and  the  spirit  of  the  law  absent 
from  his  heart.  That  is  the  language  of  a  money- 
making,  money-loving  age,  weighing  worth  in  the  scale 
with  dollars.  I  shall  take  yon,  sir,  on  your  own  low 
ground,  on  the  mean  commercial  basis  you  have  chosen. 
You  say  you  have  acquired  this  money  since  you  left 
college.  How  has  it  been  acquired  ?  " 

"  Honestly." 

"  That  is  a  point  I  am  anxious  to  determine.  I  ask 
you  for  the  particulars  of  the  transaction,  or  series  of 
transactions,  by  which  so  much  money  was  accumulated 
in  so  short  a  time." 

"  I  sold  to  a  man  who  wished  to  buy  and  was  willing 
to  pay  my  price,  a  property  which  I  had  previously  ac- 
quired from  another  who  was  equally  anxious  to  sell." 

"In   what   did   this   property   consist?" 

"  It  was  a  railway  franchise.'' 

"  How  much  did  you  pay  for  it  ?  " 

"  I  paid  one  thousand  dollars  for  it,  money  honestly 
earned  and  saved  by  my  partner  and  myself  through  en- 
gineering work  on  a  proposed  line  of  railway." 

"  For  how  much  did  you  sell  this  franchise?  " 

"  For  one  hundred  and  five  thousand  dollars." 

"  Whom  then  did  you  cheat ;  the  seller  or  the  buyer  ?  " 

"  Neither.  The  selling  price  was  fixed  by  the  seller 
himself;  the  buying  price  was  fixed  by  the  purchaser." 

"  Did  you  know  at  the  time  you  bought  that  you  would 
be  able  to  sell  at  so  greatly  enhanced  a  price  ?  " 


"  Your  exposition  on  the  holy  text "    347 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  As  an  honest  man,  you,  of  course,  told  tfie  person 
from  whom  you  bought,  the  price  at  which  you  were  to 
resell?" 

"  Certainly  not.     It  was  none  of  his  business." 

"  Then  you  deliberately,  I  won't  say  purchased  from, 
but  overreached  a  man  at  the  rate  of  less  than  a  cent  on 
the  dollar,  and  so  came  into  possession  of  an  article  re- 
garding the  true  value  of  which  he  was  under  a  delusion ; 
came  into  the  possession  of  it  as  a  fence  comes  into  the 
possession  of  purloined  goods  ?  " 

"  I  bought  at  the  price  he  asked ;  to  do  as  you  suggest 
would  be  to  put  an  end  to  all  commercial  transac- 
tions." 

The  old  man  rose  slowly  to  his  feet,  and  McAllister 
recognised  in  his  steely  eyes  the  look  of  stern  condemna- 
tion under  which  he  had  so  often  quailed  in  college. 

"  I  ask  you,  sir,  to  leave  my  house,  and  never  again 
to  enter  it.  I  withdraw  the  probation  term  of  five  years 
that  I  offered  while  I  was  still  under  some  misapprehen- 
sion regarding  your  character.  I  ask  you  not  to  com- 
municate with  me  again,  unless  to  inform  me  that  you 
have  restored  every  penny  of  that  money  to  the  man  you 
so  shamefully  cheated." 

McAllister  rose  also,  his  face  white  and  his  lips  trem- 
bling. "  Then,  sir,  you  not  only  judge,  but  you  con- 
demn and  punish." 

"  God  condemns  and  punishes  all  such  chicanery  as  you 
have  just  confessed  to  me." 

The  young  man  replied  with  a  calmness  that  was 
plainly  enforced;  the  reply  of  a  man  resolved  not  to  be 
angered.  "  We  seem  to  have  reached  a  deadlock,  Mr. 
Fraser.  I  am  very  sorry,  and  any  unwarranted  remark 
of  mine  that  has  helped  to  bring  it  about  I  unhesitatingly 
withdraw  and  apologise  for.  May  I  suggest  that  we  call 
Mrs.  Fraser  to  this  conference,  and  listen  to  what  she  may 
have  to  say?  " 

"  There  is  no  conference ;  it  is  ended." 

"  Mrs.  Fraser  has  quite  as  much  interest  in  the  welfare 
of  her  daughter  as  you  can  have,  and  ought  to  be  allowed 


The  Victors 

a  voice  in  a  crisis  which  so  seriously  affects  that  wel- 
fare." 

"  I  am  the  head  of  my  household,  and  whoever  proposes 
to  deal  with  it  must  deal  through  me." 

"  Very  well,  sir." 

-•McAllister  took  up  the  hat  he  had  laid  down  on  enter- 
ing, and  left  the  room  and  the  house.  There  was  in  his 
face  the  expression  of  a  man  temporarily  defeated  but  far 
from  bafifkd.  He  went  direct  to  the  nearest  livery  stable, 
and  there  hired  a  horse  and  covered  buggy.  With  this  he 
drove  the  two  miles  and  a  half  over  sandy  roads  that  lay 
between  Stormboro  and  the  schoolhouse  where  Constance 
Eraser  taught.  That  lovely  autumn  afternoon  the  fa- 
miliar building  lay  embowered  in  splendour.  The  woods 
which  framed  it  were  brilliant  in  their  tints  of  scarlet, 
gold  and  russet,  but  Ben  had  no  eye  for  their  beauty.  He 
tied  the  horse  to  the  rail  fence  by  the  side  of  the  road,  and, 
going  to  the  open  door,  knocked  at  the  lintel  to  announce 
his  coming.  The  educational  murmur  at  once  ceased ; 
the  teacher  rose  at  her  desk,  crimsoning  like  forest  foli- 
age. McAllister  walked  up  the  aisle  and  shook  hands 
with  her,  realising  now,  when  it  was  too  late,  that  he 
should  have  restrained  his  impatience  until  the  pupils 
had  been  dismissed.  However,  there  was  no  chance  of 
retreat,  so  he  took  the  chair  designated  by  the  mistress 
of  ceremonies,  facing  some  dozens  of  eager  boys  and 
girls,  who  looked  upon  him  as  the  usual  school  visitor, 
and  were  ready  to  conjugate  for  him  the  verb  "  to  love  " 
if  he  desired  to  have  them  do  so. 

"  Senior  class  in  arithmetic  come  forward,"  said  the 
teacher,  with  such  calmness  as  she  could  hastily  summon 
to  her  assistance.  In  the  noise  of  the  shuffling  feet  and 
the  ringing  of  slates  that  ensued  Ben  whispered  to  her : 

"  Constance,  dismiss  the  school  as  soon  as  you  can.  I 
have  something  very  important  to  say  to  you." 

"  That  is  impossible.  Why  didn't  you  wait  till  four 
o'clock,  or  send  me  word  that  you  were  coming?  You 
must  hear  the  classes  now.  Ch'ldren,"  she  continued, 
addressing  the  assembled  class,  "  this  gentleman  has  come 
to  visit  us,  hoping  you  have  been  getting  on  well  with 


"  Your  exposition  on  the  holy  text "     349 

your  studies.     He  will  set  some  problems  to  you,  and  I 
hope  you  can  give  him  correct  answers." 

With  this  she  sat  down  at  her  desk,  assuming  the  air 
of  one  who  washed  her  hands  of  all  further  responsibility. 
McAllister  faced  the  expectant  youngsters,  with  an  un- 
easy smile  on  his  lips ;  still,  he  was  too  recently  removed 
from  scholastic  thrallment  himself  to  be  entirely  non- 
plussed by  the  situation  which  confronted  him. 

"  A  man  in  New  York,"  he  began,  "  has  fifty-two  thou- 
sand dollars  in  the  bank,  drawing  four  per  cent,  in- 
terest." 

There  was  a  quick  rattle  of  pencil  on  slate  as  these  in- 
teresting particulars  were  jotted  down.  "  How  much 
will  he  have  to  add  to  the  sum  now  in  the  bank  to  make 
his  income  equal  to  his  present  principal  ?  " 

"  That's  too  hard,"  complained  the  youngster  at  the 
foot  of  the  class,  unused  to  interest  problems  in  exactly 
this  form. 

"  Oh,  no,  it  isn't,"  replied  the  amateur  school  inspector; 
"  at  least  it  isn't  so  difficult  as  the  task  which  confronts 
the  New  York  man  I  speak  of.  It  ought  to  be  easier  to 
figure  up  how  much  money  is  required  than  to  make  that 
money  and  put  it  into  the  bank." 

The  hand  of  the  clock  had  already  passed  the  hour  of 
four  when  the  arithmetic  class  returned  from  the  front, 
like  a  victorious  army,  and  took  its  place  in  the  body  of 
the  community,  but  the  teacher  with  a  relentlessness  that 
reminded  the  unfortunate  visitor  of  her  father,  called  up 
class  after  class,  saying  that  it  was  not  often  they  had 
the  pleasure  of  receiving  a  visitor  competent  to  exam- 
ine them.  At  last,  however,  school  was  dismissed,  the 
pupils  disappeared  in  their  several  directions  and  the 
tired,  impatient  man  turned  a  reproachful  glance  upon  his 
persecutor,  who  laughed  at  h;s  discomfiture. 

"  I  hope  you  are  satisfied,  Connie,"  he  said. 

"  I  shall  be,  when  you  write  a  commending  notice  of 
your  inspection  in  our  visitor's  book." 

"  Oh,  you  have  a  visitor's  book  ?  No,  my  autograph 
shall  never  ornament  it.  But  really,  Constance,  the  posi- 
tion is  very  serious.  I  had  a  terrible  interview  with  your 


35°  The  Victors 

father  this  afternoon,  and  he  practically  ordered  me  out 
of  the  house,  commanding  me  never  again  to  attempt  com- 
munication with  any  member  of  his  family.  So  you  see, 
my  darling,  the  last  word  has  to  be  said  by  you." 

"The  last  word?"  echoed  the  girl,  whitening  a  little 
at  the  lips. 

"  Constance,  I  am  now  in  a  position  to  marry.  The 
money  I  possess,  even  at  the  rate  of  interest  the  bank 
allows,  will  give  us  an  income  of  more  than  two  thousand 
dollars  a  year,  while  at  the  rates  going  out  west,  with 
perfectly  good  security,  we  could  get  double  that,  or  more ; 
yet  I  realise  that  this  is  only  the  beginning  of  the  fight, 
for  I  am  determined  to  found  some  large  business,  and 
in  this  coming  struggle  I  want  you  by  my  side.  What  is 
the  use  of  my  working  away  in  New  York  all  alone,  and 
you  toiling  here  in  Illinois  for  a  mere  pittance?  Is  it 
unreasonable  that  I  wish  the  girl  who  has  promised  to 
marry  me  to  keep  her  promise,  now  that  I  am  able,  finan- 
cially, to  satisfy  the  most  exacting  of  parents  ?  " 

"  No,  Ben,  it  is  not  unreasonable.  What  did  father 
say?" 

"  Say !  What  didn't  he  say  ?  It  isn't  any  use  going 
over  that.  He  is  prejudiced  against  me,  and  always  will 
be.  I  resolved,  for  your  sake,  to  keep  my  temper  while  I 
talked  with  him,  and  I  think  I  succeeded  as  well  as  could 
be  expected.  At  first  he  proposed  that  I  should  come  to 
him  five  years  from  now,  but  he  afterward  withdrew  that, 
and  told  me  to  go." 

"Why?" 

"  Because  the  more  he  knew  of  me  the  less  he  approved 
of  me.  But  I  don't  want  to  say  anything  about  the  mis- 
erable interview.  I  want  to  forget  it." 

"  Did  you  see  mother?  " 

"  No.  The  house  seemed  to  be  empty.  I  asked  to  see 
her — to  have  her  join  our  conference — but  he  would  not 
allow  it.  He  was  master  in  his  own  house,  he  said,  or 
words  to  that  effect." 

The  girl  had  been  listening  pensively,  her  cheek  resting 
on  her  open  hand,  her  elbow  on  the  desk  lid.  Now  she 
straightened  herself  up,  and  her  lips  tightened. 


"Your  exposition  on  the  holy  text"     351 

"  What  do  you  want  me  to  do,  Ben  ?  "  she  asked  quietly. 

"  Connie,  dear,  I  want  you  to  come  with  me  now.  I 
have  a  buggy  outside,  and  we  can  drive  on  to  Selbourn, 
where  we  will  get  married.  Jim  is  waiting  for  us 
there?" 

"  Monro?     Why,  what  has  he  to  do  with  it?  " 

"  Well,  you  see,  my  dear,  I  asked  him  to  come  on  west 
with  me  from  New  York.  If  we  had  been  married  from 
your  home,  as  I  hoped,  Jim  would  have  been  best  man. 
You  don't  object  to  Jim,  do  you,  Connie?'' 

"  No-o-o,''  she  replied  in  rather  an  unconvincing  tone. 
"  But  I  cannot  go  with  you  now,  Ben.  I  must  see  my 
mother  first.  I  must  go  home  once  more." 

"  My"  dear  girl,  believe  me,  it  won't  do  the  least  good 
to  see  anyone  till  we  are  married.  If  you  make  a  confi- 
dante of  your  mother  she  will  never  consent.  She  would 
undoubtedly  tell  your  father,  and  then  he  would  prevent 
you  going  off  with  me.  I  know  you  hate  this  sort  of 
thing ;  so  do  I,  but  I  recognise  there  is  no  help  for  it ; 
none  at  all,  I  assure  you." 

"  I  must  go  home  once  more,"  repeated  the  girl  with 
quivering  lips.  "  I  cannot  have  mother  watching  anx- 
iously for  me,  as  perhaps  she  is  doing  now.  I  must  put 
my  arms  round  her  once  more,  even  if  I  say  nothing  of 
what  I  intend  to  do." 

"  But  you  will  be  sure  to  tell  her  if  you  return,  Connie. 
Come  with  me  now.  We  can  drive  right  back  from  Sel- 
bourn." 

"  No,  I  must  go  home  first." 

"  If  you  do,  Connie,  it's  all  up  with  me,  and  I  may  as 
well  take  the  first  train  to  New  York.  If  you  think  of 
making  any  appeal  to.  your  father,  I  assure  you  it  is  quite 
useless.  You  do  not  understand  at  what  a  deadlock  we 
arrived." 

"  Listen  to  me,  Ben.  I  shall  go  home  at  once  and  have 
a  talk  with  mother,  but  will  say  nothing  about  going  away 
with  you,  deceitful  daughter  that  I  am.  In  truth,  if  my 
father  should  make  objection  to  our  marriage  on  the 
ground  that  I  am  not  good  enough  for  you,  that  I  am 
deceitful  and  desperately  wicked,  there  would  be  more 


352  The  Victors 

reason  in  his  attitude  than  I  can  find  in  it  now.  I  shall 
also  tell  my  father  that  I  am  determined  to  marry  you. 
If  I  find  the  situation  as  hopeless  as  you  imagine  it  to  be, 
then,  Ben,  come  for  me  with  your  buggy  at  midnight,  and 
I  will  go  with  you.  You  see  how  much  worse  my  propo- 
sition is  than  your  own,  for  now  we  should  at  least  go 
away  in  broad  daylight,  so  my  present  unfilial  resolution 
ought  to  be  a  warning  to  you.  O  dear,  O  dear,  how 
can  I  speak  so  flippantly  about  so  serious  an  action? 
But  really,  Ben,  I  am  not  feeling  at  all  flippant.  My 
heart  is  sore  that  I  must  do  such  a  thing,  and  ten,  dear 
Ben,  you  must  see  that  I  love  you  better  than  all  the 
world  beside !  " 

"  O  you  sweet,  darling  girl,  to  say  so.  May  I  ever 
prove  worthy  of  your  love.  I  will;  I  will;  if  I  accom- 
plish nothing  else  in  the  world." 

He  put  his  arms  round  her  and  kissed  her,  while  she 
cried  just  a  little,  and  scolded  herself  for  doing  it,  say- 
ing that  in  truth  she  was  the  happiest  girl  at  that  moment 
in  all  the  wide  world. 


CHAPTER    V 
"WHEN  DID  YOU  LOSE  YOUR  DAUGHTER?" 

THE  bells  in  the  tower  of  the  college  were  chiming 
twelve  when  McAllister  drove  slowly  along  the  side  of 
the  street  opposite  the  dark  house  in  which  Professor 
Fraser  Irved.  He  had  been  warned  not  to  arrive  there  be- 
fore midnight,  as  his  loitering  might  attract  the  attention 
of  passing  wayfarers,  or  an  inquisitive  policeman,  so  Ben 
had  whiled  away  the  slow-footed  hours  by  allowing  the 
horse  to  take  its  own  way  through  the  suburbs,  and  thus 
he  made  the  murky  acquaintance  of  the  outlying  town 
with  a  thoroughness  that  had  been  absent  even  from  his 
collegiate  days.  Now  the  hour  and  the  man  were  at  the 
appointed  place,  and  the  man,  keeping  outside  the  radius 
of  the  gas  lamp  at  the  corner,  watched  the  door  of  the 
two-storied  cottage  with  eager  anxiety. 

It  was  perhaps  a  quarter  after  the  hour  when  the  door 
opened  and  closed  without  sound,  leaving  the  girl  stand- 
ing hesitating  on  the  stoop.  She  had  a  small  satchel  in 
her  hand,  which  showed  that  all  efforts  towards  a  recon- 
ciliation with  her  father  had  been  unavailing,  and  the 
young  man's  heart  beat  high  as  he  saw  this  token  of  her 
abandonment  of  home.  It  had  been  arranged  that  if  her 
father  had  given  even  a  reluctant  consent,  meeting  a  de- 
termination equal  to  his  own,  she  would  steal  out  and 
let  her  lover  know,  so  that  he  might  not  wait  uselessly. 
Now  the  little  platform  with  its  two  steps  in  front  of  the 
closed  door  seemed  to  hold  her  irresolute  feet,  as  if  she 
found  it  impossible  to  leave  irrevocably  the  threshold  of 
her  father's  house.  Ben  drove  his  horse  quietly  across 
the  street  and  drew  up  his  vehicle  at  the  edge  of  the  board 
sidewalk.  The  girl  descended  the  steps  quickly,  opened 
the  gate  and  stepped  silently  into  the  buggy  beside  him. 


354  The  Victors 

He  drove  off  without  a  word,  through  the  sleeping  town. 
Once  outside  the  city  limits,  with  the  dark  country  before 
them,  he  attempted  to  put  his  arm  round  her,  but  she 
shrank  from  him,  shuddering. 

"Don't,  don't!"  she  gasped  with  a  sob  in  her  throat. 
"  This  is  too  awful !  " 

"  It  was  the  only  thing  to  do,  Connie." 

"  Perhaps.  Perhaps  it  was  the  only  thing  to  do,  but 
I  should  have  told  my  mother.  It  is  an  inhuman  thing  to 
leave  her  like  this  without  a  word.  She,  at  least,  was 
not  to  blame." 

"  That,  too,  was  the  only  thing  to  do,  believe  me, 
Connie.  Had  you  told  her  your  father  would  certainly 
have  learned  of  our  intentions,  and  he  would  have  stopped 
us  if  he  could.  We  will  send  her  word  the  instant  we 
are  married.  She  will  not  really  have  a  moment's 
anxiety,  for  if  she  finds  you  missing  in  the  morning  she 
will  merely  think  you  have  risen  early  and  gone  out.  She 
knows,  of  course,  how  troubled  you  have  been  over  this." 

"  I  should  have  told  her ;  I  should  have  told  her ! " 
wailed  the  girl,  evidently  as  near  the  verge  of  hysterics  as 
a  sensible  woman  can  be.  Ben  was  not  wise  enough  to 
keep  silence.  He  had  a  masculine  belief  in  the  advisa- 
bility of  convincing  the  brain  where  the  heart  alone  was 
concerned,  and  he  thought  this  was  a  time  for  logic. 

"  If  you  had  told  her,  Connie,  it  would  simply  have 
meant  a  row  and  a  scandal  instead  of  this  quiet  departure. 
You  will  see  later  that  you  have  done  the  best — in  fact 
the  only  thing." 

"  Oh,  the  scandal  is  but  postponed,  to  break,  when  it 
comes,  on  her  lone  head.  Think  of  the  morning;  of  the 
grief,  of  the  publicity,  the  inevitable  publicity,  and  in- 
deed no  one  can  loathe  that  more  than  my  father,  stub- 
born as  he  is.  I  am  entitled  to  what  every  girl  of  my 
acquaintance  has  had,  or  will  have ;  a  wedding  from  a 
father's  house,  amidst  friends  and  relatives,  respectable, 
as  it  should  be.  Instead  of  this,  I  steal  away  in  the 
night,  like  a  thief — " 

"  But  Connie,  darling,  that  isn't  our  fault."  The 
girl  went  on  without  heeding  him. 


"  When  did  you  lose  your  daughter  ? "  355 

"  And  then  the  gossip,  the  whispering1,  the  shaking  of 
heads ;  the  number  of  people  who  always  knew  Constance 
Fraser  would  do  something  of  this  sort.  Ran  away  with 
a  man !  At  midnight !  Said  to  have  been  married,  and 
they  sincerely  hope  for  the  sake  of  the  parents  that  this 
is  true.  The  doubt  expressed  in  nod  and  intonation.  Oh, 
it  is  horrible,  horrible !  " 

"  Dearest  Connie,  do  listen  to  reason.  What  are  all 
those  people  to  us?  We  shall  not  live  among  them,  nor 
care  for  their  trivial  opinions,  good  or  bad.  They  are  but 
a  minute,  infinitesimal  section  of  a  very  large  world,  and 
a  section  we  shall  have  nothing  to  do  with  in  the  future. 
A  year  from  now  you  won't  give  a  snap  of  your  fingers 
for  the  opinion  of  all  Stormboro,  and  will  wonder  that 
you  ever  had  a  moment's  uneasiness  about  it." 

"  Worst  of  all,  the  newspapers.  How  they  will  gloat 
over  it  and  put  great  headings  above  their  accounts  of  it ! 
'  Elopement  of  a  Professor's  Daughter ! '  I  can  see  the 
words  before  me  now  in  the  dark.  '  A  College  Scandal ! ' 
Their  interviews  and  their  comments,  keeping  it  up  day 
after  day." 

"  Dear  Connie,  that  won't  hurt  us,  even  if  it  should 
all  happen  just  as  you  say,  although  it  is  more  than  likely 
that  nobody  will  know  anything  about  it.  Why  should 
they?  Neither  your  father  nor  your  mother  will  say 
anything.  In  fact,  I  can  see  in  my  mind's  eye  a  line  in 
the  paper,  supposing  there  was  an  account.  '  The  pro- 
fessor rudely  repulses  our  reporter  and  orders  him  out 
of  the  house.' ' 

"  O  Ben,  how  can  you  speak  jestingly  about  what  is 
a  tragedy  to  me?  How  can  you  be  so  cruel  at  such  a 
moment  ? ' 

"  Now  you  are  unjust,  Connie.  I'm  not  jesting  and 
I'm  not  cruel.  I'm  merely  trying  to  get  you  to  take  a 
common-sense  view  of  the  situation." 

"  Common  sense?  And  then  to  think  that  all  my  life, 
my  husband,  if  he  should  get  angry  with  me,  as  he  is  now, 
will  have  the  right  to  say  I  was  so  anxious  to  marry  him 
that  I  proposed  running  away  with  him,  and  did  run  away 


356  The  Victors 

with  him  at  midnight !  If  you  ever  taunt  me  with  this, 
Ben,  I  shall  leave  you.'' 

"  O  my  dear,  dear  girl,  you  take  the  wrong  point  of 
view.  It  would  be  more  truthful  to  say  that  I  was  so 
anxious  to  get  you  that  I  carried  you  off  in  spite  of  your- 
self, for  I  really  believe,  if  I  were  to  allow  it,  you  would 
turn  back." 

"  Of  course,  Ben,  you  think  I  am  silly,  but  you  don't 
understand  me." 

"  I  don't  think  anything  of  the  kind,  Constance." 

"  But  you've  practically  said  so,  just  now,  and  I  sup- 
pose you  are  right,  for  I  never  could  have  consented  to 
an  escapade  like  this,  if  I  had  any  wisdom." 

The  bewildered  young  man  now  kept  silent,  and  that 
at  the  wrong  time.  He  should  have  contradicted  her,  but 
as  he  didn't  she  took  her  worst  fears  as  proven  and  wept 
silently  beside  him.  They  were  now  approaching  the 
schoolhouse,  and  Ben  mentally  wished  they  were  safely 
past  it. 

"  How  can  you  say  it  will  be  kept  quiet,  when  there  are 
the  school-children  who  will  assemble  to-morrow  morning 
and  wait  and  wait  for  the  teacher  who  never  comes  ?  The 
dear  little  children,  all  of  whom  loved  me,  and  whom  I 
love  with  all  my  heart  in  return.  Who  is  to  tell  them 
they  are  not  to  think  or  speak  of  me  again?  I  see  some 
of  the  larger  girls  running  to  our  house,  fearing  I  am  ill, 
and  then  what  is  my  poor,  distracted  mother  to  say  to 
them?  Ah,  what,  what?  Ben,  I  cannot,  cannot  do  it. 
Stop  the  horse,  Ben,  stop,  or  I  shall  jump  from  the 
buggy." 

They  were  now  directly  in  front  of  the  schoolhouse, 
concealed  in  the  darkness  by  the  overhanging  forest. 
McAllister  pulled  up  the  horse  and  brought  the  vehicle  to 
a  standstill. 

"  There  is  no  need  to  threaten  to  do  this  or  that.  Con- 
stance. I  am  here  to  help  you  get  out  of  the  buggy,  if 
that  is  your  wish,  or  to  do  anything  else  you  may  require 
of  me." 

"  Oh,  yes,  yes,  Ben ;  you  are  so  good  and  patient,"  said 
the  girl  repentantly.  "  I'm  sorry  I  am  so  foolish,  but 


"When  did  you  lose  your  daughter?"  357 

don't  you  see  that  what  we  proposed  is  wicked  and  impos- 
sible?" 

"  I  don't  see  it,  Connie,  but  it  is  quite  enough  that  you 
see  it.  Do  you  wish  me  to  turn  back?  " 

"  Yes,  dear  Ben.     Don't  be  harsh  with  me,  Ben." 

McAllister  turned  the  uncomplaining  horse  to  the  right 
about,  and  headed  once  more  towards  Stormboro.  The 
animal  possessed  all  the  patience  of  a  seasoned  livery- 
stable  hack,  and  betrayed  neither  astonishment  nor  resent- 
ment at  the  many  vagaries  of  which  it  had  been  the  vic- 
tim since  nightfall.  Ben,  however,  did  not  drive  on. 

"  Constance/'  he  said,  solemnly,  "  you  have  spoken  of 
the  love  of  your  mother  for  you,  and  the  love  of  the 
school-children  for  you,  of  the  opinions  of  sensational 
newspapers  and  the  chatter  df  irresponsible  gossips,  but 
in  all  your  talk  there  has  never  been  a  word  ot  me,  and 
apparently  not  a  thought  have  you  given  to  my  feelings, 
and  I  certainly  love  you  more  than  all  the  school-chil- 
dcen  combined." 

"  Oh,  how  can  you  say  that,  Ben,  when  the  thought  of 
you  has  never  been  absent  from  my  mind,  or  the  love  of 
you  from  my  heart.  Is  it  wrong  that  I  should  wish  you 
to  wed  your  wife  honourably,  and  in  the  open  day,  not 
surreptitiously,  like  an  evildoer?" 

"  Then  will  you  tell  me  how  you  propose  to  bring  about 
this  open-day  marriage?  Or  is  it  your  intention  to  bid 
good-bye  to  me  half  an  hour  from  now  at  your  father's 
door,  and  then  put  me  forever  from  your  mind?  " 

"  O  dear  Ben  !  But  I  don't  wonder  you  are  impatient 
with  me.  Still,  you  are  very  unkind." 

"  It  is  you  who  are  unkind,  Constance.  But  this  is  no 
time  for  reproaches.  It  is  a  serious  crisis  in  our  affairs, 
and  I  am  confident  that  if  I  once  place  you  in  your  father's 
house  again  you  will  never  be  my  wife.  I  want  one 
more  chance.  Have  you  the  schoolhouse  key  in  your 
pocket  ?  " 

The  girl  patted  her  dress  impulsively  in  the  region 
where  the  pocket  was  supposed  to  be. 

"  Why,  yes,"  she  exclaimed,  half  laughing,  half  cry- 
ing. "  I  had  forgotten  all  about  it.  I  must  leave  it  in 
the  lock,  of  course." 


358  The  Victors 

"  Lock  yourself  in  the  schoolroom  for  an  hour,  Connie. 
You  will  be  quite  safe  there  until  I  return.  Are  you 
afraid  of  being  alone  in  the  dark,  dear  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no.     But  what  are  you  going  to  do,  Ben  ?  " 

"  I  shall  tell  you  when  I  come  back  victorious,  or  de- 
feated. Meanwhile,  you  think  quietly  over  the  situation, 
and  when  I  return  it  will  be  to  give  you  the  choice  of 
going  with  me  to  Selbourn  or  taking  up  your  old  life  at 
Stormboro.  You  shall  decide  finally,  but  if  I  succeed, 
that  hard  decision  will  not  be  put  upon  you,  so  pray  for 
my  success." 

"  I'll  do  whatever  you  say,  Ben,  and  God  be  with  you." 

She  sprang  lightly  from  the  buggy  before  he  could  as- 
sist her,  ran  to  the  schoolhouse,  and  Ben  hearing  the  door 
shut,  drove  off  to  Stormboro.  He  tied  the  horse  to  the 
maple  tree  in  front  of  the  professor's  house,  and  entered 
the  hall,  the  door  having  been  left  unfastened.  He  was 
about  to  knock  on  the  hall  table,  but  in  groping  for  it  a 
chair  fell  over  with  a  crash,  which  resounded  like  thun- 
der through  the  silent  house. 

"Who's  there?"  came  in  startled  tones  from  the  up- 
stairs ;  the  voice  of  the  professor.  Ben  cleared  his  throat 
as  he  heard  a  match  struck,  and  saw  the  flare  of  a  gas 
light  in  the  upper  hall. 

"Who's  there?     What   is  it?" 

"  Benjamin  McAllister,"  the  young  man  found  voice 
to  say. 

"  What  are  you  doing  here,  sir  ?  Have  you  added 
house-breaking  to  your  many  avocations?'' 

The  old  man  appeared  at  the  top  of  the  stairway,  a 
dressing-gown  flung  round  him,  a  candle  in  his  hand, 
which  threw  into  relief  his  stern,  gaunt  face  and  strag- 
gling grey  hair.  Mrs.  Eraser  followed  him,  and  placed 
her  hand  on  his  arm. 

"  Do  not  speak  so  loudly,"  she  whispered,  fear  shin- 
ing from  eyes  red  from  weeping. 

"  Peace,  woman,"  said  the  professor  savagely,  shaking 
off  her  hand.  "  Peace,  that  we  may  learn  what  this  ras- 
cally night  prowler  has  to  say  in  defence  of  his  burglar- 
ious intrusion.  Now,  that  you  have  been  so  opportunely 


"When  did  you  lose  your  daughter?"  359 

discovered,  how  did  you  break  into  this  house,  male- 
factor ?  " 

"  I  did  not  break  in ;  I  came  in  by  the  open  door, 
through  which  your  daughter  escaped,  an  hour  ago,  from 
under  your  tyrannous  roof." 

McAllister,  looking  up,  saw  a  grey  shadow  of  anguish 
pass  over  the  old  man's  face,  and  for  the  first  time  was 
sorry  for  him. 

"  My  daughter !  Escaped !  "  he  gasped,  while  the 
candlestick  visibly  trembled  in  his  hand.  Mrs.  Fraser 
uttered  a  cry,  which  was  quickly  followed  by  a  sob.  She 
ran  instantly  to  her  daughter's  room. 

"O  Constance!  Constance!"  she  wailed  in  accents  of 
agony,  "  say,  say  that  it  is  not  true.  My  own  little  girl, 
my  baby !  "  but  the  empty  room,  the  unpressed  bed  con- 
fronted her.  "  O  John,  John,  she  is  not  here :  she  has 
gone,  she  has  gone ;  our  darling  has  gone ! ''  she  cried 
wildly.  They  heard  her  throw  herself  on  the  tenantless 
bed,  moaning  and  sobbing. 

"  And  you,  sir,"  spoke  the  old  man,  his  voice  so  husky 
as  to  be  scarcely  recognisable,  "  have  you  come  to  this 
shamed  house  to  taunt  us  with  the  disgrace  of  which  you 
are  the  cause  ?  " 

"  Pardon  me,  Mr.  Fraser.  You  are  the  cause.  I  have 
come  to  say  that  if  you  will  listen  to  reason  there  will  be 
no  disgrace.  Your  daughter  will  return  within  an  hour 
if  you  will  but  promise  that  we  may  marry  from  this 
house,  a  promise  she  pleads  for,  and  one  she  has  every 
right  to  expect." 

"  I  shall  rouse  the  police.  I  will  search  the  town  for 
her.  You  shall  not  profit  by  your  knavery.'' 

"  You  may  do  all  that,  Mr.  Fraser,  if  you  wish  to  be 
hooted  in  derision  from  the  city,  and  your  name  made  a 
byword  and  a  scandal  in  your  college.  If  you  in  your 
folly  do  as  you  threaten,  then  your  daughter  and  myself 
will  be  far  beyond  the  reach  of  you  and  your  police.  I 
have  a  horse  and  buggy  at  the  door,  and  if  you  make 
a  move  in  the  direction  you  indicate  I  shall  be  off  before 
you  can  cry  out  to  the  empty  street.  No  one  but  myself 
knows  where  Constance  is  at  the  present  moment,  and 


360  The  Victors 

she  will  stay  there  until  I  return  to  her.  Neither  you 
nor  all  the  police  in  Stormboro  can  find  her,  unless  I  lead 
you  to  her  hiding  place." 

The  weeping,  distracted  mother  now  came  to  the  head 
of  the  stair,  imploring  the  young  man  to  bring  her 
daughter  back  to  her  home. 

"  I  merely  await  your  consent,  Mrs.  Eraser.  Indeed,  I 
am  most  reluctant  to  cause  you  the  slightest  distress,  and 
Constance  is  heartbroken  to  leave  you  in  this  way.  She 
is  eager  to  return,  if  she  may  have  the  birthright  which 
every  other  girl  receives  without  question ;  the  privilege 
of  marrying  the  man  of  her  choice  in  church,  or  in  her 
father's  house.  It  is  shameful  that  this  right  should  be 
denied  her  for  one  moment,  and  that  I  should  be  com- 
pelled to  sue  for  it." 

"  Yes,  Ben,  it  is  shameful,"  cried  Mrs.  Fraser,  whose 
exasperation  now  got  the  better  of  the  dread  of  her  hus- 
band. "  John,  Constance  shall  be  married  in  her  own 
home  as  I  was  married  from  my  father's  house.'' 

The  old  professor  leaned  against  the  wall  and  groaned. 
He  tried  to  rally  his  forces  and  said  with  a  feeble  attempt 
at  his  usual  manner. 

"  Silence,  woman.     I  will  not  be  coerced  by  a  trick." 

"  I  have  been  silent  too  long,  and  there  will  be  an  end 
of  silence  if  you  continue  your  stubbornness.  Is  Con- 
stance not  my  daughter  as  well  as  yours?  And  is  the 
happiness  of  both  to  be  sacrificed  because  you  are  dis- 
pleased? " 

The  silence  demanded  was  now  maintained  by  the  pro- 
fessor. 

"  I  am  waiting  for  your  answer,  sir,"  said  McAllister, 
but  the  old  man  made  no  reply. 

"  Come  with  me,"  coaxed  Mrs.  Fraser,  placing  her  hand 
on  her  husband's  arm.  "  Ben,  you  must  wait  for  me.  If 
he  does  not  consent  I  am  go:ng  in  the  buggy  with  you 
to  Constance.  She  shall  be  married  with  her  mother,  at 
least,  beside  her." 

"  All  r'ght,  Mrs.  Fraser,  that  is  a  capital  idea ;  that  is 
all  Constance  desires." 

Mrs.  Fraser  led  her  husband  away  unresisting.     He 


"When  did  you  lose  your  daughter?"  361 

seemed  dazed  by  the  turn  things  had  taken.  Ben  lit  the 
gas  in  the  hall  and  waited.  In  a  short  time  there  ap- 
peared at  the  top  of  the  stair  alone  his  future  mother-in- 
law,  for  whom  he  had  that  affection  which  most  men  hold 
for  their  mothers-in-law,  despite  the  paragraphs  to  the 
contrary  in  the  humourous  -press. 

"  Ben/'  she  said,  "  go  and  fetch  Constance.  I  shall 
wait  up  till  your  return." 

"  But  does  he  consent?  "  urged  Ben,  who  did  not  relish 
the  chance  of  a  last  condition  that  would  be  worse  than 
the  first. 

"  Yes;  you  may  take  my  word  for  it,  Ben." 

"  But  I  should  like  to  hear  him  say  so,"  persisted  the 
suspicious  young  man. 

"  He  won't  say  so.     Don't  press  him.     Let  well  alone." 

"  He  will  say  so,"  cried  the  contrary  professor  from 
the  room  above.  "  He  is  not  ashamed  to  put  in  words 
whatever  conclusion  is  forced  upon  him.  You  shall  be 
married  from  this  house,  but  you  will  not  receive  my 
blessing  on  a  union  which  has  its  origin  in  a  breach  of 
the  commandment.  The  day  will  come  when  she  will 
desert  her  husband  as  she  now  deserts  her  father." 

Ben  was  about  to  reply  that  the  blessing  was  a  boon 
they  could  doubtless  dispense  with,  but  Mrs.  Fraser,  ar- 
riving by  intuition  at  the  threatened  rejoinder,  held  up  her 
finger  in  admonition,  and  Ben  simply  said : 

"  I  thank  you,  sir." 

Mrs.  Fraser  ran  down  the  stairs  and  silently  threw  her 
arms  round  the  young  man's  neck. 

"  O  Ben,  Ben,"  she  whispered  with  tremulous  voice; 
"  you'll  be  good  to  my  darling,  you'll  be  good  to  her, 
won't  you  ?  " 

Ben  kissed  her  and  found  difficulty  in  bracing  his  un- 
steady voice  to  reply : 

"  If  I  am  not,  mother,  may  God  deal  his  harshest  with 
me." 


CHAPTER  VI 
"  GIVE  ME  LEAVE  TO  PROVE  YOU  A  FOOL  " 

"  DEAR  JIM  : 

"  What  are  you  fooling  away  your  time  in  Sel- 
bourn  for?  It's  a  town  of  no  interest  or  importance. 
Come  at  once  to  Stormboro,  which  is  an  educational 
centre  and  a  city  of  delight.  What  put  an  elopement 
into  your  head?  Certainly  not!  We  are  to  be  married 
at  her  father's  house  day  after  to-morrow  (Thursday) 
by  the  Reverend  Dean  of  the  Faculty  himself,  Professor 
Fraser  assisting.  You've  mooned  round  Selbourn  so  much 
alone  that  you  have  imbibed  erroneous  notions  of  things. 
I  confess  it  isn't  very  complimentary  that  you  should  im- 
agine all  sorts  of  objections  to  me  as  a  son-in-law.  I  told 
you  in  North  Carolina  there  would  be  no  trouble.  Con- 
sent? Of  course  everybody  consents.  Why  shouldn't 
they?  The  idea  of  a  justice  of  the  peace!  What  a  fer- 
tile imagination  you  have,  Jimmy.  Connie  never  would 
agree  to  be  married  before  a  justice,  and,  for  that  matter, 
neither  should  I ;  my  future  father-in-law,  the  professor, 
would  have  been  aghast  at  such  a  suggestion.  I  am  sure. 
Come  on  to  Stormboro  at  once,  Jimmy ;  there's  to  be  two 
stunningly  pretty  bridesmaids.  I'll  meet  you  at  the  10.15. 

"  Ever  yours, 

"  BEN." 
362 


CHAPTER    VII 

"  FORTUNE'S  FURIOUS  FICKLE  WHEEL  " 

UNLESS  the  necessary  flitting  to  New  York  could  be 
regarded  as  a  wedding  journey,  the  McAllisters,  newly 
married,  had  none.  Ben  was,  above  all  things,  practical, 
and  he  was  not  going  to  begin  an  untried  phase  of  exist- 
ence by  making  any  mistakes.  The  ceremony,  which, 
to  the  romantic  mind  of  the  girl,  had  seemed  to  be  the 
most  important  event  in  her  life,  was  to  him  but  an 
inevitable  episode,  happily  done  with,  and  now  their 
career  together  began. 

On  the  night  of  the  relinquished  elopement  he  had 
promised  Mrs.  Fraser  that  he  would  be  a  good  husband 
to  her  daughter,  and  this  pledge  was  in  line  with  his  own 
long-held,  well-thought-out  intention.  He  would  not 
only  be  a  good  husband,  but  the  best  husband  in  the 
world.  His  rule  of  conduct  was  already  clear  to  him. 
No  harsh  word  would  ever  be  spoken  to  his  wife.  His 
life  would  be  devoted  to  her  service;  she  would  yet  be 
the  richest  woman  in  New  York.  Never  should  she 
know  the  uncertainty  of  a  hand-to-mouth  subsistence. 
Ben  himself  had  been  so  poor  in  worldly  goods  that  the 
possession  of  unlimited  means  appeared  the  most  de- 
sirable thing  in  the  world,  a  condition  to  be  striven  for 
with  all  the  energy  at  one's  disposal,  and  he  had  a  text  to 
quote  from  Scripture  giving  to  the  scheme  the  strong 
support  of  biblical  sanction,  "  Whatsoever  thy  hand  find- 
eth  to  do,  do  it  with  thy  might."  Happiness  was  thus 
foreshadowed  for  Constance  McAllister,  who  was  now 
in  possession  of  a  husband  determined  to  achieve,  the 
fruit  of  that  achievement  hers,  and  hers  alone.  His  de- 
votion was  dominated  by  all  the  enthusiasm  of  an  ancient 


364  The  Victors 

kn.'ght  for  his  lady,  but  with  the  nonsense  eliminated. 
He  was  the  embodiment  of  nineteenth  century  chivalry, 
eminently  rational. 

Monro  was  at  the  station  to  see  them  off  for  New 
York,  wishing  them  a  safe  and  pleasant  journey. 

"  But  aren't  you  coming  with  us  ? "  cried  Ben  in 
amazement. 

"  No,  I'm  going  to  Chicago,"  replied  Jim.  "  I  want 
to  spend  a  day  or  two  there.  Then  I'll  take  the  Lim- 
ited to  New  York." 

"  Nonsense,"  said  Ben  emphatically.  This  was  the 
first  he  had  heard  of  such  an  absurd  proposal.  "  You 
have  nothing  to  do  in  Chicago.  I  ,vant  to  talk  with  you 
over  our  plans." 

"  Oh,  there  will  be  time  enough  for  that,"  rejoined  his 
friend,  with  eyes'  on  the  ground.  "  I  expect  to  pick  up 
some  hints  in  Chicago  that  may  be  useful  to  us." 

"  Chicago !  "  ejaculated  Ben  with  great  contempt. 
"What  can  Chicago  teach  us?  Look  at  the  difference 
in  population.  New  fork's  the  spot.  Come  along,  Jim. 
Why,  think  of  the  time  we'll  have  on  the  cars  together. 
We  can  plan  enough  between  here  and  New  York  to — 
Of  course  you'll  come.  Connie,  tell  him  we  want  him 
with  us." 

Constance  was  smiling  faintly  and  looking  at  Jim, 
who  did  not  meet  her  gaze.  She  joined  in  her  husband's 
invitation,  but  with  exceeding  mildness.  Ben  glanced  from 
one  to  the  other  in  bewilderment.  He  could  not  under- 
stand Jim's  quietly  stubborn  resolve,  nor  Connie's  lack  of 
cordiality.  It  was  the  most  natural  thing  in  the  world  for 
Monro  to  accompany  them ;  there  were  innumerable  busi- 
ness points  to  be  settled — important  affairs  that  had  been 
already  thrust  too  completely  in  the  background  by  the 
excitement  preceding  the  wedding.  But  now  the  mar- 
riage ceremony  was  over  and  done  with.  It  belonged  to 
the  past.  This  was  the  time  to  discuss  the  future ;  all 
three  equally  interested.  And  here  was  a  heaven-sent 
opportunity,  the  long,  long  pilgrimage  to  New  York, 
with  absolutely  nothing  else  to  do  but  talk  business. 


"  Fortune's  furious  fickle  wheel  "       365 

"  Come,  you  two,"  commanded  Monro.  "  Get  your 
seats  or  you'll  miss  the  train.  I've  seen  to  the  baggage. 
I  gave  you  the  checks,  didn't  I,  Ben  ?  " 

"  Yes,  yes,  but  look  here — " 

"  Good-bye,  Ben.  Good-bye,  Mrs.  McAllister.  Does 
the  name  sound  unfamiliar?  You'll  soon  get  used  to  it. 
See  you  later,  both  of  you."  Jim  shook  hands  and 
turned  away.  He  did  not  go  to  Chicago,  but  took  the 
evening  train  for  New  York. 

McAllister  wondered  what  was  wrong  wfth  Monro. 
Surely  he  did  not  think  that  marriage  was  to  make  any 
difference  in  their  close  comradeship.  That  would  be  too 
absurd.  Jim  himself  might  marry  before  long,  and  their 
wives  would  be  great  friends.  As  the  train  sped  along 
Ben  unfolded  his  ambitions  to  Constance,  regretting 
Jim's  absence  now  and  then,  for  numerous  problems  pre- 
sented themselves  that  would  have  been  the  better  for 
Monro's  calm  common  sense  directed  upon  them.  All 
this  was,  of  course,  exceedingly  interesting  to  Mrs. 
McAllister.  Ben's  enthusiasm  was  infectious,  but  pres- 
ently she  began  to  gaze  wistfully  from  the  car  window, 
listening,  nevertheless.  The  scenery  was  not  attractive ; 
a  flat  country  with  villages  and  towns  very  like  one  an- 
other ;  but  it  was  the  kind  of  prospect  to  which  she  had 
been  accustomed  all  her  life. 

When  New  York  was  reached  she  could  not  tell 
whether  she  liked  it  or  not.  The  roar  and  bustle  dazed 
her.  It  seemed  to  inspire  Ben,  who  glowed  in  eulogy  of 
the  place.  To  him  the  commotion  was  the  tumult  of  bat- 
tle, into  which  he  was  eager  to  plunge,  confident  that  he 
would  emerge  a  Napoleon. 

Their  abiding  place  was  the  "  Arundel,"  on  Madison 
Avenue,  partly  a  boarding-house,  partly  a  private  hotel, 
but  without  the  appearance  of  a  place  of  public  entertain- 
ment. There  was  no  signboard  above  the  door,  and 
nothing  to  indicate  that  it  was  not  an  ordinary  dwelling. 
It  was  six  stories  high,  with  a  plain  front  of  dark  brown 
stone.  A  flight  of  steps  led  up  to  the  front  door,  with 
all  the  seeming  of  an  entrance  to  a  private  mansion, 


366  The  Victors 

which,  indeed,  the  house  originally  had  been.  The 
premises  adjoining  belonged  also  to  the  Arundel,  with 
doorways  cut  between  on  each  landing.  There  was  a 
bogus  air  of  personal  occupancy  about  the  place,  and  a 
hint  of  home  comfort,  a  surreptitious  pretense  that  a 
boarder  was  not  a  boarder,  but  a  friend  of  the  family. 
The  thick  foot-worn  carpets  and  much  of  the  heavy  fur- 
niture had  been  taken  over  from  the  former  proprietor, 
to  be  supplemented  by  incongruous  modern  garnishings 
constructed  by  machinery. 

The  McAllisters  occupied  a  suite  of  three  small  rooms 
on  the  fourth  floor  facing  the  avenue,  and  from  one  or 
other  of  the  windows  Constance  gazed  pensively  out  at 
the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  much  as  she  had  gazed 
from  the  car  speeding  to  New  York,  while  Ben  had 
talked  glowingly  of  what  he  would  accomplish  in  busi- 
ness. 

An  attempt  had  been  made  in  the  arrangement  of  the 
dining-room  to  give  an  effect  of  semi-exclusiveness  for 
the  benefit  of  those  eccentric  enough  to  desire  this  sort 
of  thing.  The  large  front  room  contained  two  long 
tables,  and  here  at  stated  hours  the  majority  of  the 
boarders,  men  and  women,  congregated.  Closed  folding 
doors  in  a  wide  archway  separated  the  big  apartment 
from  a  smaller  back  room  furnished  with  little  round 
tables  for  two,  and  larger  square  tables  for  four.  The 
service  here  was  not  so  prompt  as  in  the  more  popular 
division,  but  the  majority  treasured  this  room  as  being 
one  of  the  homelike  features  of  the  place,  although  they 
never  occupied  it.  Others,  again,  valued  the  presence 
of  the  portly  woman  (who  was  proprietor  of  the  estab- 
lishment) at  the  head  of  the  table,  whose  large,  genial  at- 
titude of  hostess  presiding  at  a  country  house  gathering 
had  so  much  to  do  with  the  feeling  that  one  was  accept- 
ing hospitality  rather  than  receiving  goods  paid  for  at 
the  end  of  the  week.  The  manager  of  the  Fifth  Avenue 
hotel  did  not  sit  down  with  his  "  guests  "  nor  know  each 
one  by  name. 

A  standing  witticism  in  the  comic  papers  leads  to  the 


"  Fortune's  furious  fickle  wheel  "       367 

inference  that  boarding  house  steak  is  tough  and  scanty, 
but  both  Mrs.  Hammond  and  her  patrons  could  laugh  at 
these  recurring  jokes  without  feeling  their  personal  ap- 
plication. The  food  was  lavish  and  well  cooked,  excel- 
lent in  quality,  but  in  somewhat  too  great  variety  for 
much  distinction  to  rest  with  any  one  dish. 

Constance  preferred  a  little  round  table  in  the  smaller 
room,  where  she  and  Ben  might  be  alone  at  their  meals. 
Of  course  it  could  have  been  arranged  to  breakfast, 
lunch,  and  dine  in  one  of  their  own  rooms,  but  this  would 
have  entailed  extra  cost,  while  even  now  the  bill  paid  at 
the  end  of  each  week  appalled  the  girl  with  its  extrava- 
gance. Ben  objected  to  the  plan  because  of  the  slowness 
of  the  service,  and  every  minute  was  of  value  to  him. 
Breakfast  was  hurried  through,  luncheon  he  never  at- 
tended, and  dinner  he  rarely  indulged  in,  coming  home 
late  at  night,  when  he  had  to  let  himself  in  with  a  latch- 
key. 

Sometimes  on  the  infrequent  occasions  when  he  came 
to  dinner  a  burst  of  laughter  from  the  long  tables 
penetrated  the  closed  doors,  and  Ben  would  look  up  with 
an  appreciative  smile,  for  he  loved  his  fellow-man  and 
liked  to  think  of  every  one  as  happy.  Were  he  ruler  of 
the  world  all  its  inhabitants  would  have  been  joyous, 
could  his  wish  make  them  so.  His  deeply  seated  re- 
ligious feeling  had  nothing  sombre  in  it.  "Connie,"  he 
cried  once,  "  we  ought  to  be  in  there.  They're  a  jolly  lot. 
Don't  you  think  you'd  enjoy  that  better  than  sitting  here 
mooning  with  me?" 

"  No,"  answered  his  wife. 

"  Why  ?  You  ought  to  get  acquainted  with  people. 
We've  been  here  for  months,  and  I  don't  believe  you 
know  a  soul  in  the  place." 

"Do  you?" 

"  Oh,  with  me  it's  different.  I'm  busy.  I've  no  time  for 
that  sort  of  thing.  But  you  have  all  the  time  there  is  on 
your  hands,  and  it  would  be  ever  FO  much  livelier  for  you 
if  you  were  on  visiting  terms  with  some  of  them.  Don't 
the  folks  here  know  each  other?  They  seem  to  be  very 
ifriendly  in  there." 


368  The  Victors 

"  Yes,  they  know  each  other.  Mrs.  Hammond  offered 
to  introduce  me  to  some  of  the  '  permanents,1  as  she  calls 
them.  Humanity  is  divided  into  two  classes  in  her  mind, 
the  permanents  and  the  transients,  the  former  being 
worthy  of  all  consideration.  The  women  visit  a  good 
deal  in  each  other's  rooms,  and  I  believe  much  gossip  is 
interchanged.  Some  have  called  on  me,  but  I  think  they 
regard  me  as  countryfied." 

"  Nonsense ;  you  just  imagine  that." 

"  I'm  afraid  I'm  not  interested  in  them  or  their  con- 
versation, which  is  chiefly  of  dress  or  the  theatres,  or 
surmises  concerning  the  relations  of  some  of  the  tran- 
sients, and  even  of  the  permanents.'' 

"  Say,  Connie,  you  speak  cynically.  I  never  heard  you 
do  that  before." 

Constance,  in  defiance  of  etiquette,  placed  her  elbows 
on  the  table  and  her  chin  in  her  hands,  looking  earnestly 
across  at  him. 

"  O  Ben,"  she  said  in  a  low  voice,  "  give  me  a  place 
as  shop-girl  in  your  store." 

The  good-natured  man  leaned  back  in  his  chair  and 
laughed  heartily.  This  was  a  rare  joke. 

"  My  dear  girl,  you  underrate  the  American  husband. 
He  wants  his  wife  to  be  queen  among  women,  and  my 
wife  shall  be  so,  and  not  a  slave,  while  I  have  brains  and 
energy  to  order  it  otherwise.  The  shop-girls  are  work- 
ing for  you,  my  dear,  and  I  hope  some  day  to  have  a 
thousand  of  them.  I  tell  you  what  it  is,  Connie,  you 
should  take  up  some  study  that  would  interest  you. 
Music,  for  instance.  I'll  have  a  piano  sent  up  to  our 
rooms." 

"  A  piano!  Who  could  play  in  this  hive?  I'm  driven 
distracted  by  the  pianos  I  can  hear  now.  There  is  one 
in  the  room  adjoining,  set  against  the  wall — I  loathe  it — 
another  down  the  passage  and  one  in  the  room  above.'' 

"  Well,  start  opposition,  which  is  the  life  of  trade. 
However,  I  only  make  the  suggestion.  All  New  York  is 
at  your  disposal.  By  Jove,  I  must  be  off,"  he  added, 
looking  at  his  watch.  "  Well,  ta,  ta,  my  girl." 


"  Fortune's  furious  fickle  wheel  "       369 

"  Must  you  go,  Ben  ?  Surely  you  don't  have  to  work 
both  night  and  day." 

Ben  laughed  his  cheery,  confident  laugh. 

"  That's  the  price  of  success  in  New  York,"  he  said. 
"  By-and-by,  when  I  get  the  business  more  armly  estab- 
lished, I  shall  not  be  kept  so  hard  at  it.  Monro  puts  in 
even  longer  hours  than  I  do." 

He  glanced  at  his  watch  again,  snapped  it  shut,  and 
was  gone. 

Often  he  talked  with  her  about  the  business ;  in  fact  it 
was  the  only  subject  on  which  he  could  converse  with 
ardour ;  nothing  else  seemed  of  moment  to  him. 

Jim's  money  and  his  had  been  put  into  an  establish- 
ment on  Sixth  Avenue.  He  had  a  theory  that,  on  the 
whole,  the  people  of  New  York  were  badly  served. 
Their  clothes,  their  boots,  their  hats  were  for  the  most 
part  made  of  shoddy  and  rated  at  high  prices.  Their  food 
was  adulterated  and  they  were  cheated  in  weight.  The 
motto  of  the  new  firm  was  "  Honesty."  The  "  small 
profits  and  quick  returns  "  idea  of  the  adage  was  to  be 
carried  out  in  reality.  He  would  pay  cash  and  exact 
cash.  There  would  be  no  accounts  on  either  credit  or 
debit  side  of  his  ledger,  if,  indeed,  he  kept  a  ledger  at 
all.  He  would  gain  the  confidence  of  the  ready-money 
buyers  of  New  York,  and  it  was  his  ambition  that  the 
time  would  come  when  if  a  man  said  such  an  article  was 
purchased  from  McAllister,  Monro  &  Co.,  that  statement 
would  be  a  guarantee  of  its  quality.  He  hoped  to  en- 
large and  re-enlarge  his  premises,  absorbing,  one  after 
another,  the  adjoining  shops,  and  when  this  was  accom- 
plished he  expected  to  erect  a  building  that  would  be  a 
model  to  the  world.  He  had  chanced  on  the  germ  of 
an  idea,  the  idea  of  the  department  store;  a  huge  com- 
mercial Juggernaut  that  would  crush  out  local  opposi- 
tion and  ruin  the  small  dealer,  an  idea  against  which 
future  legislatures  were  to  make  laws,  an  idea  destined 
to  bring  untold  wealth  to  its  promoters  jind  unmitigated 
curses  upon  their  heads. 

"  I  tell  you  what  it  is,  Connie,"  he  exclaimed,  "  I  will 
24 


37°  The  Victors 

be  at  the  head  of  a  vast  emporium  in  which  any  woman 
may  get  whatever  she  wants  without  going  from  under 
our  roof,"  and  he  emphasised  his  statement  by  a  sweep- 
ing gesture,  as  if  to  typify  the  immensity  of  feminine  de- 
sires. 

"  Then  I  shall  go  there,  Ben." 

"  Of  course  you  will,  and  you'll  get  what  you  want, 
too,  at  the  right  price  for  the  right  quality." 

"  What  I  shall  want  will  be  my  husband,  for  I  think 
the  price  I  am  paying  is  too  much." 

"  For  the  quality,  eh  ?  "  laughed  Ben  as  he  kissed  her. 
He  was  a  hopelessly  good-natured  man. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

"  I    DO    DESIRE    SOME    CONFIDENCE " 

IT  is  not  easy  to  gain  the  confidence  of  a  large  city. 
There  are  many  competitors,  and  you  must  let  the  in- 
habitants know  that  you  are  in  the  running.  This 
means  advertising,  and  advertising  means  money  gener- 
ously spent,  with  faith  in  its  return  increased  a  thou- 
sand-fold. It  is  all  very  well  to  do  a  cash  business  if 
you  have  sufficient  capital,  but  McAllister,  Monro  &  Co. 
soon  found  that  they  must  husband  their  resources  and 
take  credit  where  they  could  get  it.  Before  a  year  had 
passed  the  firm  was  in  difficulties.  Ben  had  many  glow- 
ing schemes  on  which  he  would  have  staked  everything, 
confident  of  success,  but  Jim  was  more  conservative,  act- 
ing as  a  balance  wheel  to  the  concern,  subduing  Ben's 
enthusiasm  without  dampening  his  ardour.  Both  worked 
to  the  utmost  of  their  capacity,  indulging  in  no  vacations. 

To  the  ordinary  man  the  unexpected  direction  which 
McAllister's  ventures  sometimes  took  would  have  been 
disconcerting,  but  Monro  had  an  inexhaustible  faith  in 
his  partner's  genius,  a  quality  entirely  unlike  his  own 
more  plodding  methods,  and  Jim  would  carry  patiently 
to  its  conclusion  some  brilliant  proposal  which  had  been 
completely  forgotten  by  its  projector,  after  it  had  been 
uttered  with  such  force  of  eloquence  as  to  impress  it  in- 
delibly on  Monro's  mind. 

The  need  of  money  had  to  become  acute  before  it 
crossed  the  line  which  limited  the  range  of  McAllister's 
attention.  He  was  in  the  habit  of  waving  a  crisis  aside 
with  the  remark  that  Jim  would  attend  to  the  matter,  for 
his  belief  in  Monro's  power  to  surmount  obstacles  was 
only  equalled  by  the  latter's  confidence  in  the  potentiality 


372  The  Victors 

of  Ben's  scintillating  suggestions.  Once  brought  up 
against  the  stone  wall  of  .financial  embarrassment,  how- 
ever, McAllister  with  tireless  enrgy,  backed  by  fervent 
prayer,  set  himself  resolutely  at  the  task  of  climbing  over 
or  finding  a  way  round.  It  was  astonishing  how  often  he 
averted  impending  disaster.  His  certainty  of  himself 
and  belief  in  his  proposals  were  so  overwhelming  that 
he  seemed  to  hypnotise  the  money  from  the  most  unlikely 
sources.  If  a  man  listened  he  must  end  by  being  con- 
vinced, and  if  he  had  the  cash  it  changed  pockets. 
When  McAllister  reached  the  point  where  despair  set  in, 
his  puritanical  fervour  bore  him  up,  and  his  unshaken  as- 
surance that  the  Lord  was  associated  with  him  tided  over 
many  a  depth  in  which  another  man  would  have  sunk. 

Sometimes  the  remedy  which  McAllister  applied  for 
reducing  these  constantly  recurring  commercial  fevers 
was  so  ridiculously  inadequate,  not  to  say  incongruous, 
that  Monro  was  aghast,  confronting  some  elusive  course 
of  reasoning  which  he  could  not  grasp.  An  example  of 
this  was  the  advent  of  Edward  Holderness,  stupefying  to 
Monro  at  the  time,  but  by  him  admitted  later  to  have 
been  a  master  stroke,  a  conclusion  which  McAllister  had 
never  for  a  moment  doubted. 

One  morning  Ben  left  the  store  after  a  serious  consul- 
tation with  his  partner,  grievously  depressed.  Five  hun- 
dred dollars  must  be  produced  before  closing  time,  and 
the  bank  account  of  the  firm  was  overdrawn.  Ben  had 
no  more  idea  where  he  was  to  get  the  money  than  the 
man  who  urged  him  to  buy  unneeded  lead  pencils  in 
the  street.  He  saw  neither  that  man  nor  any  other  as 
he  walked  the  crowded  pavement,  for  his  mind  and 
soul  were  in  urgent  communion  with  One  whom  he 
regarded  as  the  chief  member  of  the  firm.  People  ran 
against  McAllister  and  made  comment,  sometimes 
polite,  more  often  sharply  the  reverse,  but  Ben  paid 
no  heed. 

Monro  spent  an  anxious  day.  He  feared  the  resource- 
fulness of  his  friend  had  come  to  an  end,  as,  some  day, 
it  must,  if  the  efforts  of  the  supply  company  did  not 


"  I  do  desire  some  confidence  "        373 

meet  a  more  substantial  appreciation  from  the  public 
than  was  at  present  the  case.  The  constant  strain  of 
steering  the  boat  in  these  turbulent  rapids,  avoiding 
the  rocks  by  a  hair's  breadth,  was  telling  on  the  nerves 
of  both  men. 

At  three  o'clock  Monro,  from  his  glass-walled  office 
that  overlooked  the  whole  interior  of  the  siore,  saw  his 
partner  enter.  McAllister's  hat  was  set  on  the  back  of 
his  head,  his  face  was  radiant,  and  the  buoyancy  of 
springtime  was  in  his  step.  He  had  a  smile  and  a  cheery 
word  of  greeting  for  the  employees  he  passed,  all  of 
whom  liked  him  and  would  do  anything  for  him.  A 
gloomy,  disheartened  man  had  gone  out  that  morning; 
a  jubilant  boy  was  now  returning.  He  came  into  the 
office,  his  right  hand  upraised,  which  he  brought  down 
with  a  resounding  clap  on  the  shoulder  of  his  friend. 

"  Jimmy,  my  son,  I've  done  the  greatest  stroke  of  busi- 
ness to-day  that's  been  pulled  off  in  New  York  for  a 
year." 

"  I'm  very  glad  to  hear  it,"  said  Monro,  his  forebod- 
ings scattering  like  mist  before  the  sun. 

"  Yes,  sir ;  it  takes  your  uncle  Ben  to  put  his  finger 
right  on  the  spot.  I  was  going  down  Broadway  and 
stopped  in  front  of  Cowan's  jewelry,  store.  All  at 
once  it  struck  me  that  old  Cowan  might  want  to  come 
in  on  the  new  commercial  movement  and  join  the  pro- 
cession. He's  one  of  the  richest  fellows  in  New 
York,  you  know." 

"  There  couldn't  be  a  better  man,"  agreed  Jim,  wann- 
ing. "Was  he  willing?" 

"Don't  know.  Didn't  see  him.  I  went  in  and  was 
met  by  the  floorwalker,  as  we  would  call  him ;  what  title 
Cowan  gives  him  I  haven't  the  slightest  idea.  I  expect 
the  man  must  be  a  duke.  He  was  the  most  polite  indi- 
vidual I  ever  encountered  ;  made  me  feel  like  a  clodhopper 
beside  him.  I  tell  you,  Jim,  Western  colleges  should  pay 
more  attention  to  deportment  than  they  do.  The  busi- 
ness side  of  pure  politeness  has  never  been  thoroughly  ap- 
preciated in  this  country,  and  we  are  apt  to  underesti- 


374  The  Victors 

mate  it  in  foreigners.  Now,  Jim,  you  and  I  are  first-class 
fellows,  of  course,  but  beside  a  man  like  Holderness  of 
Cowan's,  we're  uncouth ;  that's  what  we  are — uncouth." 

"  Quite  so,  but  what,  in  Heaven's  name,  has  all  that  to 
do  with — " 

"  Wait  a  moment.  I'm  coming  to  the  point.  This 
man  Holderness  thought  at  first  I  was  a  customer. 
Naturally  he  was  polite.  Then  he  learned  I  wanted  to 
interview  his  chief,  and  after  expressing  in  the  most 
deferential  manner  that  this  chief  was  a  very  busy  person 
who  could  see  no  one  unless  an  appointment  had  been 
made,  he  actually  foiled  me  in  my  attempt  to  meet  the  old 
gentleman,  and  did  it  with  a  manner  so  charming  that  it 
was  a  pleasure  to  be  discomfited.'' 

"  Then  how  did  you  get  to  the  inner  office?  " 

"  I  have  just  told  you  that  I  didn't  get  in.  No,  sir,  I 
didn't  get  in,  and  right  here  came  over  me  a  flash  of  in- 
spiration. I  knew  there  was  something  we  lacked  in 
our  store,  and  up  to  that  moment  I  had  but  the  vaguest 
sort  of  notion  what  it  was." 

"  We  lack  cash,"  interrupted  Jim  with  some  severity. 

"  Oh,  yes,  but  cash  is  comparatively  a  minor  matter. 
That  will  come  all  right  enough.  When  money  begins 
to  flow  into  this  place  the  Croton  dam  couldn't  keep  it 
out.  First  tap  the  reservoir,  then  run  your  levels  right  and 
the  water  will  come  like  a  flood.  Well,  as  I  was  saying, 
I  made  up  my  mind  right  on  the  spot  that  we  had  to  have 
this  man.  '  What's  your  name?  '  I  asked  him.  '  Edward 
Holderness,'  he  answered,  too  cultured  to  show  surprise. 
'  Look  here,  Mr.  Holderness,'  I  cried,  '  you're  my  man.  I 
want  you  and  you  want  me.  I  have  in  embryo  the  great- 
est business  in  New  York  City.  It  will  be  a  mine  of 
minted  gold  when  th:s  little  shop  is  jogging  on  in  the 
same  old  way,  glad  of  making  a  beggarly  hundred  thou- 
sand a  year.  You  must  come  with  me.'  Well,  sir,  that 
chap  was  too  highly  refined  to  discuss  the  matter  on  his 
employer's  prenrses.  He  would  make  an  appointment 
with  me  next  week,  he  said,  and  talk  over  the  scheme. 
'  Next  week !  '  I  shouted.  '  Next  week  may  be  next  cen- 


"  I  do  desire  some  confidence  "         375 

tury  as  far  as  we  are  concerned.  I  settle  things  now. 
When  do  you  lunch  ?  '  I  asked.  '  At  one  o'clock,'  says  he. 
'  All  right.  Meet  me  at  Delmonico's  at  one  o'clock  sharp.' 
And  so  I  left  him.  At  Delmonico's  I  gave  him  the  finest 
lunch  that  ever  was  served  in  this  town." 

Jim  groaned. 

"  How  did  you  pay  for  it?  "  he  asked. 

"Didn't  pay  for  it.  Told  them  to  chalk  it  up,  which 
they  did.  They  know  me  there.  And  I  tell  you  what 
it  is,  Jim,  when  you  want  a  first-class  feed  and  haven't 
the  ready,  don't  fool  round  going  to  a  cheap  place,  trying 
their  most  economical  dishes.  Go  to  the  very  best  restau- 
rant and  order  the  best  they've  got,  growling  because  it 
isn't  better.  Oh,  I  understand  this  village,  even  if  I  did 
come  from  the  West.  Well,  sir,  I  just  told  Holderness 
what  we're  going  to  do  with  this  outfit.  Paralysed  him. 
Then,  striking  while  the  iron  was  hot,  I  asked  him  what 
he  wanted  to  join  us.  It  seems  they're  giving  him  two 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars  a  year  at  Cowan's,  and  he 
asked  three  thousand  to  come  with  us.  '  I'll  give  you 
five  thousand/  said  I,  and  we  settled  it  right  there  and 
then." 

For  once  McAllister's  enthusiasm  proved  unavailing. 
Monro  leaned  back  in  his  chair,  and,  without  replying, 
gazed  sadly  through  the  glass  at  the  employees  scattered 
about  the  store,  whose  wages  on  the  coming  Saturday 
he  did  not  know  how  to  meet.  A  shade  of  grey  over- 
spread his  face.  McAllister  felt  the  gathering  chill,  and 
rose  to  his  feet,  speaking  earnestly  and  emphasising  his 
remarks  with  eloquent  gestures  of  the  right  hand. 

"  I  know  exactly  what  you  think,  Jim.  You  think  it's 
poor  business  policy  to  offer  a  man  five  thousand  when 
he's  willing  to  come  for  three  thousand.  Now,  I  want 
to  deal  generously  with  those  who  are  nelping  me.  I 
want  my  people  to  be  more  than  satisfied.  The  day  of 
the  cheap  man  is  past.  From  now  on  America  is  going 
to  have  little  use  for  any  who  are  not  of  the  very  first 
class.  The  man  of  brains  is  going  to  make  money ;  the 
man  of  muscle  is  going  to  get  work,  but  for  the  great 


376  The  Victors 

commonplace  crowd  between  the  two — well,  it's  in  for  a 
bad  time." 

Still  Monro  maintained  silence. 

"  And  yet  I'm  cheating  Holderness.  He's  a  twenty- 
five  thousand  dollar  man,  and  he'll  get  that  from  me 
before  I  quit.  Yes,  and  by  smoke,  I'll  give  him  his 
twenty  thousand  a  year  back  pay,  too ;  see  if  I  don't.  You 
know,  Jim,  we  are  dealing  with  the  women.  Women 
will  be  our  customers  and  we  must  please  them.  It's 
all  nonsense  to  say  that  women  like  your  gruff,  out- 
spoken person  ;  they  don't.  They  want  deference  and 
they  want  it  smooth  and  suave.  You  just  ought  to  hear 
the  way  Holderness  pronounces  the  word  '  madame.'  I 
tell  you  it's  a  lesson  in  elocution.  The  tone  is  like  velvet 
and  the  manner  is  the  incarnation  of  deepest  respect. 
Why,  he'd  make  a  woman  from  the  Bowery  think  he 
took  her  for  a  duchess.  Jim,  he  will  '  madame  '  us  into 
prosperity.  You  can't  keep  the  ladies  of  New  York  away 
from  this  store  when  Holderness  is  with  us." 

There  was  an  interval  before  Monro  spoke. 

"  I  quite  agree  with  you  that  it  is  necessary  to  have 
a  polite  floorwalker.  I'm  glad  you've  got  the  right  per- 
son. How  about  that  other  matter  ?  " 

"  What  other  matter  ?  " 

"  The  five  hundred  dollars." 

"  What  five  hundred  dollars  ?  " 

:(  The  money  we  must  have  before  five  o'clock." 

"  Oh,  that !  I  settled  the  question  going  up  Sixth  Ave- 
nue. I  couldn't  do  any  business  until  I  got  it  off  my 
mind." 

"  I  was  afraid  you  had  forgotten  it,  Ben.  When  is  the 
money  to  be  here  ?  " 

"  Before  five  o'clock,  of  course.  That's  the  hour  you 
mentioned." 

"  Quite  right.     How  did  you  raise  it  ?  " 

"  I  didn't  raise  it.  I  don't  know  a  man  in  town  who'd 
let  me  have  the  money.  I  said  to  the  Lord  as  I  walked 
along  Sixth  Avenue,  '  I'm  up  a  tree.  We've  got  to  have 
five  hundred  dollars  at  the  store  before  five  o'clock.' 


"  I  do  desire  some  confidence  "        377 

Then  the  weight  lifted  right  off  my  mind,  and  I  felt  like 
a  boy  again." 

"  I  wish  I  shared  your  feeling,"  said  Monro,  grimly. 

"  I  wish  you  did,  Jim,"  was  McAllister's  simple  reply. 

"  Do  you  expect  me  to  meet  our  creditors — sharp  New 
York  business  men — and  offer  them  such  security  ?  " 

"  I  asked  for  cash.     Didn't  you  hear  what  I  said?  " 

Monro  felt  that  the  dreaded  break  had  come.  He  had 
linked  his  fortune  with  insanity ;  now  he  must  speak 
plainly  and  get  out  of  the  combination.  McAllister  gazed 
anxiously  across  the  table  at  the  averted  face  of  his 
friend,  divining  rather  than  diagnosing  the  frost  in  the 
air,  for  his  intuition  was  always  stronger  than  his  reason. 
The  ballooning  bubble  of  this  mixture  of  business  and 
devotion  had  collapsed,  leaving  the  stale  half-and-half 
flat  to  the  taste.  Ben  needed  a  responsive  audience ;  in 
the  cold  atmosphere  of  doubt  his  exaltation  shrivelled. 
His  sensitive  spirit  shrank  from  Monro's  incredulous 
silence,  and  he  sank  into  his  chair  suffering  from  a  blow 
that  had  not  yet  fallen. 

There  was  a  tap  at  the  office  door ;  a  clerk  entered. 

"  A  gentleman  to  see  you,  Mr.  McAllister." 

Ben,  springing  to  his  feet,  grasped  at  the  interruption 
as  an  immersed  man  at  a  life  belt.  He  spoke  breath- 
lessly. 

"  This  is  Holderness,  Jim.  He  said  he  would  run  over 
if  he  could  get  away.  Wants  to  have  a  look  round,  you 
know.  Now,  Jim,  old  man,  whatever  you  think  of  me, 
let  it  go  for  the  moment.  Don't  give  Holderness  a  hint 
that  there  is  a  difference  between  us.  We'll  thrash  all 
that  out  afterward.  You  won't  say  anything  now,  will 
you,  Jim  ?  " 

Monro  shook  his  head.  Edward  Holderness  was 
brought  in  by  the  clerk. 

"  Ah,  Mr.  Holderness,  I'm  glad  you  found  time  to  visit 
us.  This  is  my  partner,  Mr.  Monro ;  the  solid  man  of 
the  concern." 

The  urbanity  of  Mr.  Holderness  in  greeting  his  new 
employers  fully  justified  the  eulogies  of  McAllister. 


378  The  Victors 

"  Now  we'll  have  a  walk  round  the  premises,  for  I'm 
sure  you're  anxious  to  be  off  again,"  cried  Ben,  nerv- 
ously rubbing  his  hands  together. 

Monro  sat  where  he  was  and  watched  the  two  thread 
their  way  among  the  long  tables  piled  with  goods.  The 
mobile  right  hand  of  Ben  gesticulated ,  his  round  hat  was 
pushed  further  and  further  to  theback  of  his  head.  The 
froth  was  boiling  up  again,  now  that  he  had  an  attentive 
listener;  the  place  was  transforming  itself  to  his  pro- 
phetic eye  into  a  thronged  mart,  the  commercial  retail 
heart  of  a  great  city.  Evidently  his  untiring  eloquence 
brought  the  vision  very  vividly  to  the  mind  of  his  visitor, 
whose  bearing  showed  deferential  acquiescence.  Monro, 
out  of  the  influence,  sighed  deeply. 

"  Wonderful  man,"  he  murmured  to  himself.  "  If 
faith  could  carry  us  on,  how  prosperous  we  should  be !  " 

Their  excursion  ended,  the  two  returned  to  the  office. 
McAllister's  eyes  glowed  after  his  fever  of  talk,  and  the 
position  of  his  barometric  hat  showed  that  his  spirits  were 
still  at  a  high  level.  In  convincing  others  he  convinced 
himself. 

"  Mr.  Holderness  quite  agrees  with  me,  Jim.  We've 
got  everything  our  own  way  if  we  only  work  it  right, 
and  that's  exactly  what  we're  going  to  do." 

"  The  possibilities  are  certainly  most  alluring,"  said  the 
urbane  Mr.  Holderness.  "  I'm  thoroughly  at  one  with 
Mr.  McAllister  in  his  ideas  regarding  the  treatment  of 
the  public,  and  I  feel  sure  great  success  will  follow." 

Monro,  with  an  effort,  replied  that  he  hoped  such 
would  be  the  case.  Ben  glanced  timorously  from  one  to 
the  other,  a  set  smile  on  his  lips. 

"  There  are  one  or  two  points,"  continued  Mr.  Holder- 
ness,  "  which  may  be  mentioned,  now  that  we  are  all  here 
together.  In  the  first  place,  I  should  like  to  begin  with 
you  a  little  sooner  than  I  anticipated — to-morrow,  in  fact, 
if  you  have  no  objection." 

"  The  sooner  the  better,"  cried  McAllister  cordially. 
"  Every  moment  lost  is  gone  forever." 

"  Quite  so.  I  am  forced  to  admit  that  my  late  employer 


"1  do  desire  some  confidence"        379 

did  not  take  my  resignation  in  the  spirit  I  had  expected. 
He  endeavoured  to  give  it  the  effect  of  a  dismissal,  and  to 
that,  of  course,  I  made  no  objection.  The  dismissal,  how- 
ever, is  instant;  thus  I  am  prepared  to  come  here  at  once. 
This'  brings  me  to  my  second  point,  which  is  financial — I 
hope  you  will  not  think  I  am  making  conditions,  but 
rather  offering  suggestions." 

"  Certainly,  certainly,"  ejaculated  Ben,  his  brow  wrink- 
ling in  perplexity.  Monro  said  to  himself,  "  He  is  anx- 
ious about  his  salary — and  no  wonder." 

"  Mr.  Cowan  has  many  commendable  traits  in  business 
relation,  and  his  present  anger  and  haste  do  not  blind  me 
to  his  more  intrinsic  qualities.  He  allows  his  employes 
to  put  their  savings  into  the  capital  of  the  firm — a  most 
excellent  device  in  my  opinion — securing  that  interest  on 
their  part  in  the  success  of  the  establishment  which  comes 
from  a  proprietary  holding.  My  own  small  investment 
I  should  gladly  have  allowed  to  remain  with  him,  but  he 
somewhat  curtly  declined,  and  drew  me  a  cheque  on  the 
spot.  It  is  only  seven  hundred  and  eighty-five  dollars, 
but  I  should  feel  obliged  if  you  would  allow  me  to  take 
stock  in  this  growing  enterprise  to  that  amount,  with  the 
privilege  of  increasing  it  from  time  to  time." 

"  I  see  no  objection  to  that,"  said  McAllister  quickly. 
"  Jim,  make  out  a  receipt  for  seven  hundred  and  eighty- 
five  dollars,  sign  it,  and  then  I'll  countersign  it.  We 
will  issue  the  stock  to  you  to-morrow,  Mr.  Holderness, 
and  take  up  your  receipt." 

Monro  mechanically  drew  toward  himself  a  long  book 
of  blanks,  and  wrote  as  he  had  been  directed.  Mr  Hol- 
derness sat  down  and  slowly  indorsed  a  cheque  he  had 
taken  from  his  pocket-book,  blotted  the  signature  with 
care  and  laid  the  document  on  the  table.  McAllister 
rapidly  scrawled  his  undecipherable  sign  manual  on  the 
paper  his  partner  handed  to  him.  The  cheque  went  into 
a  drawer,  and  the  receipt  into  a  pocket-book  Mr.  Hol- 
derness arose  and  took  his  leave  with  ingratiating  amia- 
bility. 

In  the  silence  that  ensued  McAllister  walked  UD  and 


380  The  Victors 

down  the  room,  his  eyes  gleaming  as  if  a  flame  had  been 
kindled  behind  them.  In  his  veins  throbbed  the  Cove- 
nanter blood,  whose  iron  had  nerved  some  ancestor  to 
face  death  unflinching  for  his  faith.  When  at  last  he 
spoke,  his  voice  rang  out  in  the  fervid  tone  of  the  ex- 
horter,  the  expressive  right  hand  automatically  pushing 
his  hat  further  back  ere  it  added  gesture  to  speech. 

"  Ten  minutes  past  four,  Jimmy ;  ten  minutes  past  four ! 
I  told  you  the  money  would  be  here.  '  A  man  can  receive 
nothing  except  it  have  been  given  from  heaven.' 
'  Yet  have  I  not  seen  the  righteous  forsaken,  nor  his  seed 
begging  bread.'  Write  our  own  cheque  for  five  hundred 
dollars  and  see  that  this  draft  from  Holderness  is  in  the 
bank  as  soon  as  the  doors  open  to-morrow  morning." 


CHAPTER   IX 

"  A    GRACIOUS    PERSON  " 

EDWARD  HOLDERNESS  found  his  employer  waiting  for 
him  when  he  returned  to  the  jewellery  store.  Mr.  Cowan 
was  not  in  good  temper  as  he  paced  up  and  down  the 
long  and  broad  space  between  the  counters,  behind  which 
numerous  clerks  were  ostentatiously  busy,  some  assidu- 
ously serving  the  public,  others  actively  engaged  in  un- 
necessary rearrangement  of  the  wares. 

"  And  where  have  you  been,  sir  ?  "  demanded  the  chief. 

"  I  took  the  liberty  of  visiting  the  establishment  on 
Sixth  Avenue  to  which  I  have  attached  myself." 

"  Attached  yourself !  The  liberty !  Put  in  plainer 
language,  you  stole  the  time  from  me." 

"  Perhaps  we  had  better  discus^  this  in  a  less  conspic- 
uous place,  Mr.  Cowan.  May  I  suggest  your  private 
room,  sir?  " 

"  I  am  not  going  to  discuss  anything  with  you,  and  if 
I  did  it  would  be  when  and  where  I  please.  The  store  is 
mine,  I  hope/' 

"  Undoubtedly  it  is,  sir." 

"  Then  explain  your  theft  of  time,  which  I  pay  for." 

"  During  the  busy  season  I  have  often  worked  for  you 
extra  hours  without  asking  or  expecting  additional  re- 
muneration ;  I  had  hoped,  therefore,  you  would  perhaps 
overlook  the  taking  of  a  few  minutes  for  myself— 

"  A  few  minutes !  You  might  justify  in  the  same  way 
the  taking  of  a  few  dollars  from  my  till." 

"  I  venture  to  submit,  sir,  that  the  comparison  is  harsh. 
Nevertheless,  if  such  is  your  view,  I  am  anxious  that  you 
compensate  yourself  by  a  corresponding  deduction  from 
my  salary." 

"  Exactly.     Always    the    plea  of    the  detected  thief. 


382  The  Victors 

The  money  will  be  returned  if  no  inconvenient  questions 
are  asked." 

Edward  Holderness  contented  himself  with  an  incli- 
nation of  the  head.  The  shopmen  were  more  absorbed 
in  their  activities  than  ever.  The  master's  voice  was  loud 
and  domineering,  and  the  solf  answers  he  received  did 
not  turn  away  wrath. 

"  I've  had  enough  of  you  ;  get  out,  and  never  set  foot 
on  my  premises  again." 

The  floorwalker  bowed  once  more,  and  retired  with  the 
gentle  tiptoe  tread  of  his  profession.  He  swept  one 
kindly  glance  at  his  fellow-labourers  as  he  with- 
drew, an  expression  of  friendly  interest  and  sym- 
pathy so  subtle  that  it  could  not  compromise  them 
with  their  satrap,  yet  tangible  enough  to  convey  to  each 
an  unwhispered  valediction.  He  did  not  put  on  his 
faultlessly  glossy  silk  hat  until  he  was  well  across  the 
threshold,  then  he  passed  up  Broadway  as  properly 
attired  a  man  as  could  be  found  on  that  well-dressed 
thoroughfare.  In  ordinary  events  he  would  have  taken 
a  car  to  his  modest  home  in  the  Harlem  district,  but  now 
some  hours  of  the  afte'rnoon  were  unexpectedly  at  his 
disposal,  so  where  Broadway  cut  Fifth  Avenue  he  desert- 
ed the  business  street  and  continued  north  on  the  road 
of  fashion,  a  figure  in  no  way  incongruous  to  its  sur- 
roundings 

Further  and  further  up  the  town  walked  this  apparent 
gentleman  of  leisure,  and  none  who  met  him  could  notice 
outward  indication  of  inward  ferment  at  the  contumely 
heaped  upon  him  by  his  late  employer.  His  serenity  was 
unruffled,  his  brow  unclouded.  At  last  he  came  to  a 
district  which  knew  him  not,  a  locality  swarming  with 
the  poor,  but  the  quiet  dignity  of  that  measured  walk  was 
in  no  way  relaxed.  If  any  hurried  inhabitant  jostled 
against  the  deliberate  pedestrian,  he  collided  with  one 
whose  business  was  a  consideration  of  others,  and  unex- 
pectedly met  a  smile  where  he  anticipated  a  curse. 

Nearing  his  own  home  Mr.  Holderness  paused  before 
a  shop  that  displayed,  mostly  on  the  pavement,  a  varie- 


"A  gracious  person"  383 

gated  stock  of  cheap  crockery,  the  prices  marked  in  large 
black  figures  on  cardboard  or  on  the  dishes  themselves. 
Three  pitchers,  positive,  comparative  and  superlative  in 
size,  attracted  his  attention. 

"  I'll  take  these,  if  you  please,"  he  said  to  the  shopman. 

"  All  right,  Mr.  Holderness.  Have  them  sent  right  up 
as  usual,  I  suppose?  " 

"  If  you  will  be  so  kind."  He  paused  a  moment  while 
the  shopman  stood  expectant.  "  And  I  think  I'll  have 
two  of  those  large  basins,  if  you  have  any  of  them  left, 
the  coarse  cheap  kind,  you  know." 

"  Like  you  had  a  month  ago?  Yes,  sir,  they'll  be 
delivered  before  you  get  home." 

"  Thank  you."  Holderness  paid  for  his  purchases  and 
went  slowly  onward,  the  boy  with  the  crockery-filled 
basket  passing  him  on  the  way. 

The  house  of  Holderness  was  a  semi-detached  three- 
story  structure.  Its  occupier  looked  at  his  watch  as  he 
approached  it.  He  had  timed  himself  exactly  and  would 
reach  his  door  at  the  customary  moment,  as  if  he  had 
taken  a  car  at  his  usual  hour  down-town. 

As  he  entered  his  own  hall  a  strange,  oppressive  silence 
brooded  over  the  place,  emphasised  rather  than  disturbed 
by  the  diminishing  swish  of  a  woman's  skirts  and  the 
quiet,  surreptitious  shutting  of  an  inner  door.  To  this 
the  man  paid  no  attention.  He  went  up  the  stairs  to  his 
own  room  and  there  removed  gloves,  hat,  coat  and  vest. 
As  those  articles  of  clothing  were  abandoned  one  by  one, 
something  of  the  wearer's  urbanity  departed  in  their  com- 
pany. Spotless  shirt  and  collar  and  irreproachable  cravat 
took  with  them  into  their  retirement  a  measurable  por- 
tion of  the  aroma  of  civilisation,  and  at  last  there  stood 
in  the  room  a  primeval  savage  in  coarse  trousers  belted 
round  the  waist,  woollen  shirt  open  at  the  throat.  There 
was  a  suggestion  of  the  leopard  in  the  way  he  sprang  up 
the  stairs  to  the  third  story,  three  steps  at  a  time.  Before 
the  door  of  a  room  had  been  placed  the  two  basins  and 
the  three  pitchers.  Holderness  put  a  key  into  the  lock  and 
turned  it.  The  interior  of  the  attic  was  a  wreck ;  broken 


384  The  Victors 

chairs,  a  ruined  table  inclining  at  an  angle  of  forty-five  de- 
grees, two  legs  gone,  the  floor  covered  with  shattered 
earthenware.  Some  pictures  hung  against  the  wall  by  a 
corner  or  a  bit  of  cord.  Into  this  scene  of  disaster  Holder- 
ness  carried  his  crockery  and  closed  the  door.  He  looked 
in  vain  for  any  piece  of  furniture  level  enough  on  which 
to  place  his  new  purchase,  then,  as  if  in  fury  at  the  disap- 
pointment, he  raised  the  whole  assortment,  and  dashed 
it  with  a  crash  to  the  floor,  making  the  house  shudder. 
One  pitcher  bounded  away,  miraculously  unharmed.  A 
malignant  kick  sent  it  against  the  wall,  and  its  immunity 
was  of  the  shortest.  The  noise  of  destruction  seemed 
to  goad  the  destroyer  to  frenzy.  Placing  a  foot  against 
the  decrepit  table,  he  wrenched  off  one  remaining  leg 
from  its  socket  and  laid  about  him  with  vigour,  hissing 
through  his  clenched  teeth  the  language  of  the  slums, 
mingled  with  the  name  of  Cowan.  The  unfortunate 
table  for  the  moment  appeared  to  personify  the  cele- 
brated dealer  in  gems,  and  on  that  the  assailant  expended 
his  fury  until  the  wooden  cudgel  splintered  in  his  hands. 
Half  an  hour  of  this  exercise  brought  its  result.  Hol- 
derness  stood  over  the  fragments  with  heaving  chest  and 
perspiration  pouring  down  his  face.  The  reprehensible 
language  ceased  as  the  muscular  activity  waned,  and 
silence  rested  once  more  upon  the  stricken  house.  As 
he  stood  panting,  leaning  against  the  wall,  there  came 
up  to  him  the  pleasant  sound  of  pouring  water.  He 
swept  the  moisture  from  his  brow,  went  out,  locked  the 
door  behind  him  and  stole  softly  down  the  stairs  to  the 
bath-room,  where  unseen  hands  had  set  the  taps  going. 
He  emerged  from  the  water  a  giant  refreshed,  clothed 
and  in  his  right  mind,  and  descended  the  remaining  stairs. 

"  That  you,  papa  ?  "  cried  an  eager  childish  voice. 

"  Yes,  darling,"  was  the  no  less  eager  reply. 

The  unseen  hand  which  held  the  floodgate  relaxed  its 
grip.  A  door  swung  open  and  a  troop  of  joyous  chil- 
dren burst  into  the  hall.  Holderness  seized  the  youngest 
and  tossed  her  into  the  air,  the  baby  soaring  aloft  with  a 
tremulous  crow,  half  delight,  half  fear.  The  others 


"A  gracious  person"  385 

clustered  round  him,  and  over  their  heads  appeared  the 
anxious  face  of  their  mother,  a  wavering  smile  on  her 
lips. 

"  Dinner  is  ready,  Ed,"  she  said,  and  they  all  trooped 
into  the  dining-room. 

"  You  have  had  no  trouble  with  Mr.  Cowan,  I  hope  ?  " 
continued  the  lady  of  the  house  to  the  head  of  the  table. 

"  Nothing  to  speak  of.  He  was  a  trifle  more  tyran- 
nical than  usual." 

"  I  hope  you  did  not  answer  him  back,  Edward?" 

"  No  ;  I  discussed  the  matter  with  the  crockery,  the 
fact  is,  the  brute  thinks  he  has  dismissed  me." 

"  O  Edward,  he  will  not  persist  in  that,  surely. 
Won't  he  reconsider?  He  can  never  replace  you." 

"  He  will  have  no  opportunity  of  reconsideration  ;  I 
have  resigned  from  his  service.  You  remember  that 
new  place  on  Sixth  Avenue  where  you  bought  some 
things  the  other  week,  and  liked  both  material  and  the 
price?  Well,  by  a  curious  coincidence,  I  fell  in  with  the 
proprietor  to-day,  quite  a  young  man,  but  with  some 
wonderful  ideas  about  business.  He  made  me  an  offer 
and  I  accepted  it.  There  is  some  scope  for  me  at  that 
place,  while  I've  reached  the  limit  at  Cowan's.  I'm  to 
get  five  thousand  dollars  a  year." 

"  Five — thousand — dollars !  "  murmured  Mrs.  Holder- 
ness,  dwelling  on  each  word.     The  possibilities  of  such 
a  sum  seemed  illimitable. 
25 


CHAPTER    X 

"  HER    HAIR    IS    AUBURN  " 

THE  fierce  campaign  in  the  wreckage  room  always  set 
Edward  Holderness  right  for  twenty-four  hours.  It 
eliminated  the  fusil  oil  from  his  nature  for  the  time  being. 

He  was  early  at  his  new  sphere  of  activity  on  Sixth 
Avenue  next  morning,  and  employed  the  first  period  of 
his  day  in  rearranging  the  display  of  goods,  adding  artis- 
tic touches  to  the  exhibits  in  the  windows,  and  Mc- 
Allister, watching  the  efforts  of  his  latest  employee,  saw 
that  here  indeed  was  supplied  the  missing  element  in  the 
store.  The  display  began  to  take  on  an  attractiveness 
that  was  irresistible.  Ben  re-entered  the  place  after  a 
parade  along  the  pavement,  during  which  he  looked  at 
the  windows.  He  was  aglow  with  enthusiasm,  rubbing 
his  hands  one  over  the  other  in  boyish  glee. 

"  By  smoke,  Holderness,  you're  a  genius.  You  make 
me  want  to  come  into  my  own  store  and  buy  my  own 
goods." 

"  I  trust  the  public  will  be  affected  in  the  same  way, 
Mr.  McAllister,"  said  Holderness  deferentially. 

"  That  man's  a  jewel!  "  cried  Ben  to  his  partner  in  the 
inner  office. 

"  Naturally,"  replied  Monro,  "  seeing  that  he  comes 
from  the  leading  jewellery  store  of  Xew  York.'' 

"  Jim,  that's  unworthy  of  you.  All  the  same  I'm  glad 
to  hear  you  talk  flippantly,  for  it  shows  you  are  in  better 
spirits  than  you  were  yesterday.'' 

"  I  couldn't  well  be  in  worse." 

"  That's  all  right.  Jimmy,  we've  turned  the  corner 
now." 

"  We  have  turned  the  corner  so  often  that  it  is  some- 
386 


"Her  hair  is  auburn"  387 

times  a  little  discouraging.  There  always  seems  to  be 
another  corner  just  beyond.'' 

"  Don't  you  fret  about  that,  my  boy.  Look  at  the 
crowds  outside  before  those  windows  already.  People 
will  be  trooping  in  here  before  long." 

"  I  hope  they'll  hurry." 

"  They  will,  Jimmy,  they  will.  '  Fear  not,  but  trust 
in  Providence,  wherever  thou  mayst  be/  as  the  poem 
says.'' 

Monro  was  industriously  absorbed  in  his  accounts, 
bending  over  his  desk.  McAllister,  never  able  to  sit  still 
for  long  at  a  time,  had  thrust  his  hands  deep  in  his  trou- 
sers pockets,  and  was  standing  looking  through  the  glass 
partition  at  the  buyers. 

"  By  Jove,  Jim,  if  you've  any  doubt  about  the  value  of 
Holderness,  just  see  the  way  he  is  receiving  this  Fifth 
Avenue  belle  with  the  air  of  a  court  chamberlain !  " 

"  I  never  had  any  doubt  of  the  value  of  Holderness — if 
we  can  only  pay  him,"  replied  Monro,  without  glancing 
up. 

"  Don't  croak,  Jimmy.  I  say,  she  is  a  superb  girl. 
She  deserves  the  treatment  of  a  princess,  and  she's 
getting  it,  too.  My  stars,  where  have  I  seen  that  young 
woman  before?  Red  hair — " 

"  Bronze,"  said  Jim,  automatically  starting  to  his  feet. 

"Aha!  I  remember  now.  That's  the  maid  of  the  Mon- 
treal mountain.  Miss  Van  Ness  is  the  name,  isn't  it? 
Jim,  introduce  me." 

"  I'll  do  nothing  of  the  sort.  I  don't  know  her  well 
enough  to  take  such  a  liberty.  Besides,  my  place  is  in 
the  counting  room  at  the  present  moment." 

"  Then  why  don't  you  get  along  with  vour  work  ? 
What  are  you  standing  here  for,  staring  at  our  lady  cus- 
tomers? Jimmy,  I'm  amazed  at  you.  However,  I 
know  her  father.  We've  been  in  railway  deals  together. 
I'll  go  down  and  introduce  myself." 

"  I  wish  you  wouldn't,"  entreated  his  partner,  earnest- 
ly. But  the  volatile  McAllister  was  already  threading 
his  way  along  the  lanes  between  the  heaps  of  merchan* 


388  The  Victors 

disc.  Holderness  stepped  respectfully  aside  as  he  saw 
his  chief  approach  with  a  genial  smile  on  his  face. 

"  Miss  Van  Ness,  I  have  some  slight  acquaintance  with 
your  father,  so  I  take  the  liberty  of  paying  my  respects 
to  you  on  the  occasion  of  what  I  suppose  to  be  your  first 
visit  to  our  establishment." 

"  Oh,  you  know  my  father  ?  But  how  did  you  come  to 
recognise  me  ?  " 

"  Well,  to  tell  the  truth,  my  partner  has  met  you  on  one 
or  two  occasions.  He  is  such  a  self-effacing  fellow  that 
he  thought  this  did  not  entitle  him  to  give  me  an  intro- 
duction, so  I've  come  to  introduce  myself." 

"  Your  partner  ?  " 

"  Yes,  James  Monro." 

"  Oh,  is  he  your  partner?  "  Miss  Van  Ness  smiled  and 
looked  about  her  with  visibly  increased  interest.  "  The 
last  time  I  met  him  he  was  engaged  with  a  friend  in  some 
engineering  project  down  South." 

"  I  was  that  friend.  We  were  running  a  line  of  rail- 
way." 

"  Really  ?  What  a  versatile  pair  you  are !  Then  in 
the  wilds  of  North  Carolina,  now  in  the  centre  of  New 
York." 

"  Same  business  exactly,  Miss  Van  Ness.  Blazing 
our  way  to  fortune  through  an  unknown  country  in 
both  instances." 

The  young  woman  laughed. 

"  Well,  I  hope  you  will  succeed,"  she  said. 

"  Bound  to  succeed,"  he  replied  jauntily,  "  when  we 
have  the  goodwill  of  Miss  Van  Ness  and  the  talented 
assistance  of  Mr.  Holderness." 

The  girl  responded  in  the  same  airy  spirit. 

"  You  must  not  forget  the  sterling  qualities  of  your 
partner  and  your  own  very  evident  enterprise." 

"  That's  so.  Jimmy  overlooks  these  things,  but  I 
never  do.  Won't  you  come  in  and  see  him?  We  keep 
Jimmy  in  that  glass  cage  in  the  corner." 

Again  Miss  Van  Ness  laughed  with  musical  cadence, 
and  whenever  she  did  so  Holderness  smiled  in  defer- 


"  Her  hair  is  auburn  "  389 

ential  sympathy.  She  had  quite  made  up  her  mind  not 
to  go  to  the  "  cage,"  but  she  was  ignorant  of  the  mag- 
netic influence  which  McAllister  unconsciously  exercised 
over  every  one  who  approached  him.  Against  all  inclina- 
tion her  purpose  was  swept  aside  by  the  resistless  enthu- 
siasm of  a  determined  man. 

"  I  think,  Jimmy,  as  you  call  him,  might  more  properly 
have  come  to  see  me  if  he  knew  I  was  here." 

"  Ah,  Miss  Van  Ness,  you  are  far  from  appreciating 
his  retiring  disposition.  I  am  supposed  to  be  the  chief 
of  the  concern,  so  he  sends  me,  on  the  principle  that  a 
princess  must  be  received  by  the  highest  in  office." 

"  Oh,  if  that  is  the  case,  and  if  his  seeming  neglect  is 
merely  a  compliment  in  disguise,  I  shall  be  delighted  to 
look  through  the  bars  of  the  cage  at  least." 

"  That's  first-rate,  Miss  Van  Ness.  This  way,  please. 
Come  right  along.  No  charge  for  admission." 

The  girl  followed  him,  an  amused  smile  playing  about 
the  corners  of  her  alluring  lips.  Monro  was  standing 
when  they  came  in,  awaiting  them.  She  held  out  her 
hand. 

"  The  mountain  would  not  come  to  Mahomet,"  she 
said. 

"  The  mountain  had  no  idea  it  would  be  accorded  the 
privilege  of  approach,"  replied  Jim. 

"  Talking  of  Montreal,  eh?  "  struck  in  McAllister,  who 
had  not  caught  the  drift  of  the  allusion.  "  Why,  that's 
where  I  first  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you,  on  the  moun- 
tain, as  they  call  it.  Won't  you  sit  down,  Miss  Van 
Ness?" 

'  Thank  you,  no.  Afternoon  calls  are  brief,  as  you  are 
aware,  and  I  must  not  interrupt  the  blazing  of  the  way 
to  fortune."  The  girl  spoke  rapidly,  as  if  to  cover  a 
trace  of  confusion  shown  by  the  pretty  flush  of  the  cheeks 
which  greeted  his  mention  of  the  northern  city. 

Jim  cast  a  glance  at  his  partner,  who  was  all  uncon- 
scious of  saying  anything  disturbing. 

"  I  hope  Mr.  McAllister  has  not  been  advertising  his 
wares,"  said  Monro,  hurriedly.  "  Blazing  the  way  to 
fortune  sounds  like  one  of  his  phrases." 


39o  The  Victors 

"  That's  just  what  it  is.  Oh,  yes,  he  has  been  advertis- 
ing the  business  and  boasting  greatly  about  his  partner. 
He  said  some  very  nice  things  of  you,  Mr.  Monro.  I 
hope  you  value  properly  so  appreciative  a  colleague." 

"  Of  course  he  doesn't,  Miss  Van  Ness,"  broke  in  Mc- 
Allister, before  the  person  addressed  could  reply.  "  It  is 
the  prophet  and  his  house  over  again.  But  I'm  going  to 
make  the  fortunes  of  Jimmy  and  every  one  else  who  is 
associated  with  me,  see  if  I  don't.  Why,  the  possibilitias 
in  a  business  like  this  are  something  so  enormous,  on  the 
lines  we've  laid  down,  that  a  mere — " 

"  Now,  Ben ;  now,  Ben.  Stick  to  the  ancient  prophets 
and  leave  the  financial  profits  alone." 

"  That's  the  way  my  enthusiasm  is  treated,  Miss  Van 
Ness,"  protested  Ben.  "  You  wouldn't  suspect  Jim  of 
such  a  remark,  but  he's  making  them  all  the  time.  Talk 
about  business  worries — you  have  now  some  notion  of 
what  I  am  called  on  to  put  up  with." 

"  Ben  never  knows  when  to  stop  when  he  begins  on 
business,"  said  Jim,  "  and  it's  getting  to  be  the  only 
subject  on  which  he  can  converse." 

"  Indeed  you  seem  to  me  like  two  boys  having  a  lark. 
In  spite  of  this  large  place,  which  might  have  sprung 
from  Aladdin's  lamp,  and  notwithstanding  the  dignified 
presence  of  your  floorwalker,  I  find  it  impossible  to  take 
you  seriously.  I  expect  to  come  down  Sixth  Avenue 
some  day  and  learn  that  the  place  has  all  disappeared  in 
a  night." 

"  Indeed,  it  is  more  than  likely,"  admitted  Jim  grimly. 
''  I  can  assure  you,  Miss  Van  Ness,  I  have  no  difficulty 
in  taking  the  situation  seriously  enough  at  times.'' 

The  girl  looked  at  him  musingly. 

"  Yes,  I  can  see  that,"  she  said  with  slow  deliberation. 
"  You  are  more  worried  than  you  were  when  I  met  you 
on  horseback  in  North  Carolina.  But  I  will  give  you  a 
good  omen.  Do  you  know  the  fate  of  the  line  you  ran 
from  the  plains  to  the  mountains  ?  " 

"  Oh,  that  was  a  bogus  line/'  said  McAllister.  "  It  was 
never  intended  to  amount  to  anything,  although  we  did 
not  know  the  fact  at  the  time." 


"  Her  hair  is  auburn  "  391 

"  It  is  anything  but  a  bogus  line.  The  road  is  now 
nearly  completed ;  right  along  your  survey,  too.  My 
father  hopes  to  be  down  at  the  opening  shortly,  before  he 
goes  to  Europe.  So  you  see  your  work  was  not  wasted." 

"  I  hope  you  are  not  going  to  Europe/'  said  Ben  in  such 
earnest  tones  that  Jim  glanced  at  him  with  some  disap- 
proval, and  the  girl  tinkled  out  a  little  laugh  like  a  silver 
chime. 

"No.  This  is  to  be  a  hurried  trip;  just  over  and 
back,  as  is  the  way  with  railway  men.  Why  ?  " 

"  Well,  you  see  I  look  on  you  as  the  good  angel  of  the 
firm.  You  needn't  frown,  Jim ;  it's  so.  The  first  time 
I  saw  you  we  made  a  contract  for  that  surveying,  which 
was  greatly  to  our  advantage.  The  next  time  Jim  saw 
you,  and  because  he  saw  you  we  made  a  deal — 

"  Excuse  me,  Ben,  but  all  this  cannot  interest  Miss 
Van  Ness.  Besides  you  know — " 

"  Oh,  but  it  does,"  laughed  the  young  woman.  "  It 
isn't  every  day  that  one  is  called  a  good  angel.  Men  are 
too  busy  to  say  such  things  in  New  York.  It  is  easy  to 
see  you  are  from  the  West,  Mr.  McAllister,  and  you  un- 
derstand women  much  better  than  does  your  partner.  I 
think  he  underestimates  their  capacity  for  receiving  flat- 
tery. Do  go  on  with  the  pretty  talk,  as  a  story  my  father 
tells  has  it." 

"  I  think,  Jim,  you  had  better  leave  the  room  or  quit  in- 
terrupting a  man  when  he  is  eloquent.  Nothing  is  more 
destructive  to  true  oratory  than  untimely  interpellation. 
Besides  this,  you  know  every  word  I  said  is  true.  Miss 
Van  Ness  has  always  appeared  to  us  like  the  fairy  with 
her  magic  wand,  and  immediately — 

"  Really,  after  such  a  comparison  as  that  I  must  go, 
Mr.  McAllister.  I  cannot  run  the  risk  of  having  it  im- 
paired by  the  addition  of  another  word.  Most  earnestly 
I  wish  you  every  success." 

"  Oh,  we're  bound  to  succeed — now,"  he  cried  confi- 
dently, with  a  gesture  that  would  have  pushed  his  hat 
further  back  if  it  had  been  on  his  head. 

"  Thank  you,   Mr.   McAllister.     Your  accent  on  the 


392  The  Victors 

'  now  '  is  the  very  fragrance  of  adulation.  No.  Neither 
of  you  must  come  to  the  door  with  me.  I  insist.  I  have 
already  greatly  interrupted,  which  a  presiding  genius 
should  never  do.  There  should  be  but  a  wave  of  the 
wand,  then  away.  Fairies  always  respect  the  motto, 
'  This  is  my  busy  day.'  Besides,  I  want  to  have  a  quiet 
word  with  the  polite  floorwalker  which  must  not  be  over- 
heard by  the  proprietors." 

"  Oh,  you  mean  Holderness ;  he  is  a  proprietor,  too, 
who  came  in  with  his  cash  just  at  the  nick  of — " 

"  Ben !  "  warned  his  .partner. 

"  Why,  what  am  I  saying  now  ?  "  asked  the  bewildered 
McAllister. 

"  Goodness  only  knows,  and  I'm  sure  you  don't." 

Miss  Van  Ness  bestowed  a  mischievous  glance  upon 
the  perturbed  Monro,  and  laughed  merrily. 

"  Poor  Mr.  Monro  does  not  trust  his  mentor  from  the 
enchanted  land.  He  fears  the  secrets  of  his  house  will 
get  abroad  on  Fifth  Avenue.  I  half  think  he  is  right, 
Mr.  McAllister.  Never  tell  too  much.  That's  a  motto 
in  the  railway  business,  which  is  applicable  elsewhere. 
Fairies  are  fearful  whisperers.  And  now  finally  good 
afternoon  to  both  of  you,  and  the  best  of  luck." 

Monro  went  back  to  his  desk,  but  McAllister  stood 
looking  through  the  glass  panes  at  the  graceful  figure 
making  its  way  toward  the  hastening  Holderness.  What- 
ever suggestions  she  was  pleased  to  impart  were  received 
by  a  very  statue  of  respectful  attention.  Then  the  de- 
corous Holderness  saw  her  to  the  door  with  an  attitude 
which  said  more  plainly  than  words  that  he  was  the  most 
highly  honoured  man  in  America. 

"  Say,  Jim." 

"Well?" 

"Are  you  in  love  with  that  girl?" 

"  Really,  McAllister,  you  sometimes  say  things  that 
grate— 

"  Are  you,  are  you,  are  you?  " 

"  Certainly  not." 

"  Then  you're  a  fool." 


CHAPTER    XI 

"  SWEET    HUSBAND,    BE    NOT    OF    THAT    MIND " 

ON  one  of  those  occasions  when  the  business  outlook 
was  particularly  gloomy  McAllister  resolved  to  quit  the 
expensive  boarding-house  on  Madison  Avenue  and  take 
rooms  on  a  cross-town  street  further  up  the  island,  the 
name  of  which  thoroughfare  was  designated  by  two  large 
numerals.  One  peculiarity  of  his  buoyant  nature  kept 
him  ever  from  acknowledging  defeat,  even  when  he  lay 
on  his  back,  with  the  hard  knee  of  fate  pressing  down 
on  his  breast.  He  was  prone  for  the  moment  merely  to 
take  a  rest;  by-and-by  fate  would  be  overthrown,  with 
firm  hands  clutching  its  throat. 

So  with  the  removal.  In  similar  circumstances  Monro 
would  have  said  simply,  "  I  am  going  up-town  because  it 
is  cheaper  to  live  there.''  McAllister  gilded  the  event 
with  the  alchemy  of  his  own  transforming  imagination, 
as  the  after-glow  illumines  the  cold,  forbidding  Alp  into 
a  roseate  paradise.  Constance  was  looking  pale  and 
wan.  The  air  of  the  upper  island  would  be  better  for 
her  than  the  denser  atmosphere  of  the  lower  city.  They 
would  have  more  freedom  in  rooms  of  their  own.  They 
could  eat  what  they  liked  and  when  they  liked.  There 
would  be  less  restraint  concerning  dress.  Connie  could 
come  down-town  now  and  then  and  lunch  with  him.  He 
ended  by  being  convinced  that,  even  were  the  cost  ten 
times  as  great,  the  proposed  shifting  would  be  worth 
the  extra  price.  He  had  some  doubt  regarding  the  view 
his  wife  might  take  of  the  change.  The  Madison  Avenue 
private  hotel  was  so  obviously  the  most  desirable  kind  of 
home  for  a  woman  heretofore  unaccustomed  to  anything 
so  grand.  The  stately  promenade  of  Fifth  Avenue  was 

393 


394  The  Victors 

next  door,  as  one  might  say,  and  the  glittering  array  of 
splendid  shops  on  Broadway  but  a  short  two  blocks  dis- 
tant. What  more  could  a  woman  desire?  Before 
broaching  the  subject  he  fortified  himself  with  argument 
and  determined  to  fall  back  on  persuasion  should  argu- 
ment fail. 

He  was  therefore  quite  unprepared  for  the  prompt 
acquiescence  that  met  his  expressed  wish,  somewhat 
tentatively  put  forth.  She  accepted  with  a  shuddering 
glee  that  disconcerted  her  wondering  husband. 

"  Why,  Connie,  I  thought  you  liked  this  place.  It  is 
one  of  the  most  fashionable  and  expensive  boarding- 
houses  in  New  York." 

"  I  loathe  it,"  cried  Constance  with  an  emphasis  that 
left  no  doubt  of  her  sincerity. 

"  Then  why  didn't  you  say  so  long  ago  ?  " 

"  I  did  not  want  to  interfere  with  your  work.  It  was 
close  to  your  place  of  business  and  I  thought  it  con- 
venient for  you. 

"  Convenient  ?  Well,  it  isn't  so  awful  convenient. 
There's  no  cross-town  street  car  within  three  blocks." 

"  You  don't  need  a  street  car.  The  distance  is  only  a 
few  hundred  yards." 

"  Oh,  that's  all  very  well,  but  walking  is  a  waste  of 
time.  When  a  man  is  hanging  on  to  a  strap  in  a 
crowded  street  car  he  feels  that  he's  with  the  procession. 
I'd  sooner  come  down  from  Central  Park  in  a  car  than 
walk  four  blocks." 

"  I  have  thought  for  a  long  time  that  we  are  simply 
throwing  away  money  here.  You  are  paying  high  for 
meals  you  never  eat.  We  shall  have  the  consolation  of 
knowing  that  if  you  don't  come  home  to  lunch  and  din- 
ner you  are  at  least  not  paying  double." 

"  Oh,  I'm  not  moving  np-town  from  notions  of  econ- 
omy. I  don't  nr'nd  the  price  if  you're  satisfied.  What 
a  thing  costs  is  a  mere  triviality.  I  believe  in  living  to- 
day as  if  I  were  to  be  a  nr'llionaire  to-morrow.  Then 
when  you  become  a  millionaire  there's  the  consolation  of 
having  lived  well  while  you  were  reaching  that  point.  I 


"  Sweet  husband,  be  not  of  that  mind  "    395 

have  no  sympathy  with  those  fellows  who  get  rich  by 
saving.  Think  of  the  days  they  waste  in  poverty  when 
they  might  have  been  feeding  on  the  fat  of  the  land. 
Spend  lavishly  and  make  more  lavishly,  is  my  motto." 

"  But  what  if  you  fail  to  become  rich  ?  " 

"  I  sha'n't  fail.  I  never  think  of  that.  Still,  if  I  did, 
I  should  have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  I  had  lived 
like  a  millionaire,  even  if  I  never  became  one.  Don't 
you  believe  in  having  a  good  time  as  we  go  along?  " 

"  Yes,  I  do." 

"  So  do  I.  We're  true  husband  and  wife,  Connie. 
We  think  alike,  and  that's  as  it  should  be." 

"  I'm  not  sure  that  having  a  good  time  as  we  go  along 
depends  entirely  on  money." 

"  Of  course  not,  but,  then,  money  is  the  most  important 
ingredient.  I  tell  you  what  it  is,  my  girl,  lack  of  cash  in 
New  York  is  no  joke.  You'd  soon  realise  that  if  sup- 
plies ran  short." 

"  I  suppose  that  is  true  anywhere." 

"  Certainly,  but  nowhere  is  it  so  true  as  in  this  little 
village ;  growing  truer  every  day,  too." 

It  must  have  been  a  great  shock  to  the  first  man  when 
the  first  woman  for  the  first  time  contradicted  him.  It  is 
probable  that,  for  a  moment,  he  lost  faith  in  the  correct 
balance  of  the  universe,  which  hitherto  he  had  regarded 
as  perfect.  Most  likely  he  convinced  the  woman  she  was 
wrong  (with  a  club).  Perhaps  the  woman  thus  learned 
caution  and  dissimulation.  The  gift  of  reticence  has, 
therefore,  been  handed  on  from  woman  to  woman  for  her 
protection,  and  man,  being  an  unobservant  animal,  has 
almost  invariably  credited  her  with  the  possession  of 
volubility. 

Marriage  had  been  a  deep  disappointment  to  Constance 
McAllister.  Instead  of  finding  a  husband,  she  had  lost 
a  lover.  Whatever  Ben's  deficiencies  might  have  been, 
there  was  little  lack  of  assiduity  with  an  object  to  be 
gained.  As  a  suitor,  no  fault  could  have  been  found 
with  him.  He  wanted  Constance,  and  apparently  wanted 
her  more  than  anything  else  on  earth.  Whatever  he  did 


396  The  Victors 

he  did  with  all  his  might,  following  the  scriptural  injunc- 
tion he  so  often  quoted.  But  the  goal  once  attained,  all 
interest  seemed  to  vanish.  He  had  caught  his  car. 

"  My  time's  worth  a  dollar  a  minute,"  was  another  fa- 
vourite expression  of  his,  "  and  before  long  I'll  make  it 
worth  a  dollar  a  second." 

"  Take  care  your  time  does  not  become  so  valuable  that 
you'll  find  it  too  expensive  to  live,"  said  Constance  once, 
and  Ben  had  laughed  good-naturedly,  considering  the  re- 
mark fair  repartee,  but  it  conveyed  no  warning  to  him. 

Constance  had  pictured  marriage  as  a  union  of 
thought,  of  interest,  perhaps  even  of  employment.  She 
had  fancied  delightful  lingering  farewells  each  morning 
as  he  went  to  his  work,  or  it  might  be  a  stroll  with  him 
down-town  on  his  way  to  business ;  but  you  cannot  linger 
with  a  man  who  is  breathless  to  be  off,  or  stroll  with  one 
who  is  racing  for  a  car,  whose  pulses  are  beating  "  a  dol- 
lar a  minute,  a  dollar  a  minute." 

In  the  morning  his  attention  seemed  strained  to  catch 
the  sound  of  the  street-car  bell.  The  jingle  of  a  spoon 
in  a  saucer  made  him  start.  It  was  late  at  night  when  he 
came  home,  silent  and  dog-tired,  an  exhausted  storage 
battery,  with  scant  time  between  that  hour  and  daylight 
for  the  refilling  of  the  cells  with  electricity. 

He  became  more  and  more  unable  to  converse  on  any 
subject  but  one.  Nothing  else  interested  him.  Let  the 
talk  drift  outside  the  immediate  radius  of  business,  and 
his  engrossed  eyes  showed  that  they  saw  only  the  absent 
activities  of  the  store. 

More  and  more  Constance  came  to  wonder  why  he  had 
married  her.  She  filled  no  long-felt  want  in  his  nature, 
so  far  as  she  was  able  to  discern.  The  word  "  home  " 
had  no  tangible  meaning  for  him.  She  became  convinced 
that  if  he  had  known  what  was  before  him  he  would 
never  have  married,  could  he  have  spared  time  from  his 
really  important  affairs  to  give  the  problem  any  consider- 
ation. What  he  needed  was  an  open-all-night  hotel,  close 
to  his  business,  with  a  swift  unceasing  elevator  to  take 
him  speedily  to  and  from  his  room;  a  meal-at-all-hours' 


"  Sweet  husband,  be  not  of  that  mind  "    397 

house,  with  a  stand-up,  quick-lunch  counter  attached.  A 
home  in  the  northern  portion  of  the  city  was  merely  an 
incumbrance  to  such  a  man,  a  time-vaster,  and  she  won- 
dered he  remembered  even  its  existence. 

In  distant  Illinois  she  had  had  many  friends ;  in  this 
hurrying"  city  not  even  an  acquaintance,  with  less  and  less 
desire  as  time  went  on  to  form  any  social  relations. 
The  infrequent  letters  from  former  compeers  were  a 
solace,  not  unmixed  with  sadness,  but  when  they  ceased 
she  scarcely  regretted  their  stoppage.  She  remembered 
that  once — it  seemed  as  long  ago  as  the  West  was  re- 
mote— she  had  feared  to  brave  the  opinion  of  these  peo- 
ple by  a  runaway  marriage.  Now  she  realised  of  what 
small  importance  would  have  been  anything  they  might 
have  said.  Sometimes  she  felt  an  impulse  to  cry  out 
against  this  uncompanionable  existence,  but  a  moment's 
reflection  showed  the  hopelessness  of  protest.  The  in- 
herited gift  of  reticence  also  kept  her  silent.  Companion- 
ship is  a  boon  which  to  be  of  value  must  come  unsought. 
She  could  not  beg  for  what  should  have  been  her  own 
by  right.  Then  she  knew  intuitively  that  anything  she 
might  say  would  make  no  impression  on  the  mind  of  a 
man  who  had  caught  his  car  and  need  not  worry  any 
more  about  that  particular  achievement.  The  slight  ten- 
tative advances  she  put  forth  had  not  been  successful. 

Once,  in  summer,  when  the  days  were  long,  but  still 
too  short  for  him,  she  said : 

"  Ben,  the  night  boat  for  Albany  leaves  at  six  o'clock. 
Couldn't  you  quit  business  one  day  before  that  hour  and 
take  the  steamer  with  me,  say  as  far  as  Cornwall,  or 
wherever  it  stops  ?  We  could  dine  leisurely  on  board,  and 
either  stay  at  Cornwall  all  night  or  come  back  that  even- 
ing by  late  train  or  boat  ?  " 

Ben's  eyes  opened  wide  at  such  an  unbusinesslike  pro- 
posal, and  a  spark  of  anger  glinted  in  them  for  a  mo- 
ment ;  women  are  so  exacting  and  unthinking ;  but  his  ex- 
pression softened  almost  instantly  and  beamed  sympathy 
upon  her. 

"  Why,  Connie,  that's  not  a  bad  idea  when  the  weather 


398  The  Victors 

is  so  hot.  I  wish  you'd  do  that.  I  want  you  to  have  a' 
good  time,  and  I'm  bound  you  shall  have  it.  You  go. 
Any  evening  you  want  to.  Only  let  me  know  and  I 
won't  bother  coming  home  that  night.  I  tell  you,  girl,  I'd 
like  to  go  with  you,  but  can't  just  now.  We're  in  a  sort 
of  a  crisis  down-town,  and  I'm  the  man  at  the  wheel." 

His  phrase  about  not  "  bothering  "  to  come  home  stuck 
like  a  burr  in  her  mind.  She  made  no  more  suggestions 
of  this  kind,  nor  did  she  take  the  night  boat. 

It  may  be  supposed  that  a  man  so  thoroughly  religious 
as  McAllisterwould  have  been  a  constant  church-goer,  but 
such  was  not  the  case.  He  never  went  to  church,  nor 
did  he  feel  the  need  of  it.  He  no  more  thought  of  attend- 
ing service  than  of  connecting  himself  with  a  night  school 
and  redemonstrating  the  problems  of  Euclid.  He  knew 
that  every  proposition  in  Euclid  could  be  proven,  so 
where  was  the  practical  advantage  of  going  over  the 
ground  again?  Nothing  any  preacher  in  New  York 
might  say  could  add  to  his  already  overwhelming  faith. 
Besides,  his  relations  with  his  Maker  were  too  intimate 
and  direct  for  him  to  accept  any  mere  human  intervention. 
It  was  one  of  his  principles  in  business  never  to  deal  with 
a  subordinate  when  he  might  hold  communication  with 
the  head  of  the  firm ;  then,  when  a  matter  was  settled,  no 
readjustment  was  necessary.  In  religion  likewise.  McAl- 
lister always  went  to  headquarters,  and  the  church  he 
looked  upon  as  a  mere  sub-agency.  Sunday  was  to  him 
literally  a  day  of  rest ;  a  day  to  arise  late ;  a  day  when  it 
was  not  necessary  to  put  on  a  stiff  collar ;  a  day  when  it 
was  better,  perhaps,  not  to  think  of  business,  yet,  as  the 
Lord  was  a  partner,  these  thoughts  need  not  be  excluded. 

Constance  yearned  for  the  church ;  at  first  went  alone, 
but  was  even  more  solitary  there  than  elsewhere,  and 
so  ceased  her  visits.  Then  Sunday  was  a  day  when 
there  was  an  opportunity  of  talking  unhurriedly  with  her 
husband — if  he  chanced  to  be  awake. 

Every  night  she  waited  up  for  him,  often  so  late  that 
the  roar  of  New  York  ceased  for  the  time,  followed  by 
£n  uneasy  silence,  ripped  apart  now  and  then  by  the 


"  Sweet  husband,  be  not  of  that  mind  "    399 

wheels  of  a  belated  cab;  a  silence  that  seemed  to  come 
grudgingly  upon  the  great  city,  as  of  time  lost  by 
.  compulsion.  Attired  for  the  night,  with  a  shawl  about 
her  shoulders,  there  she  sat  thinking,  thinking  by  the 
open  window  until  her  pathetic  reverie  was  broken  by 
the  quick,  nervous  step  she  listened  for;  whereupon 
she  slipped  into  bed  and  was  seemingly  fast  asleep  when 
Ben  came  in,  stealing  softly  that  he  might  not 
disturb  her.  He  slept  quickly,  she  tardily,  often  the  grey 
daylight  finding  her  eyes  unclosed.  Usually  he  lay  like 
one  dead,  thoroughly  exhausted,  but  sometimes  the  prob- 
lems of  the  day  importuned  the  slumbering  brain,  tor- 
menting for  solution,  and  he  muttered  with  inquietude. 

It  would  have  been  some  consolation  if  during  uncon- 
sciousness her  name  had  ever  been  murmured,  but  even 
this  slight  comfort  was  denied  her.  In  the  stillness  of 
the  night  she  might  hear,  and  sink  back  with  a  sigh : 

"  It's  ail  right,  Jimmy.  Don't  you  worry.  I'll — I'll 
get  the  money.  It'll  be  here — before  we  need  it." 


CHAPTER    XII 

"  THERE   IS   MONEY  ;   SPEND   IT." 

IF  any  one  of  the  throng  passing  along  the  pavement 
that  bordered  Sixth  Avenue  had  cast  a  glance  at  Grace 
Van  Ness  daintily  stepping  into  her  well-appointed  car- 
riage, the  door  held  open  by  a  footman  with  finger  at  the 
brim  of  his  hat,  the  pedestrian  might  have  said  that  here 
at  least  was  one  who  had  no  quarrel  with  fortune.  Nev- 
ertheless it  was  a  young  woman  bitterly  dissatisfied  with 
herself  who  drove  across  to  Fifth  Avenue  and  up  that 
princely  thoroughfare.  Why  had  she  gone  so  tamely 
into  the  glass-lined  office?  The  pronounced  embarrass- 
ment of  Monro  had  given  point  to  the  knowing  glances 
of  his  partner,  which  the  latter  had  not  the  delicacy  to 
conceal.  The  two,  each  in  his  own  way,  had  placed  her 
in  the  position  of  the  pursuer,  an  attitude  not  only  en- 
tirely foreign  to  her,  of  all  people,  but  extremely  dis- 
tasteful. She  had  thoughtlessly  allowed  herself  to  be 
swept  into  the  office  by  McAllister's  exuberant  insistence, 
when  she  should  have  declined  the  invitation  and  left 
Monro  to  make  the  advance  if  he  cared  to  do  so.  She 
had  been  over-friendly,  and  now  that  it  was  too  late  re- 
proached herself  for  her  impulsive  action.  The  two 
.  were  probably  discussing  her  at  that  moment,  looking 
upon  her  as  a  good  and  influential  customer  gained. 
Chance  had  thrown  Monro  and  herself  together  twice ; 
chance  aided  by  her  own  impetuosity  had  brought  about 
a  third  meeting,  and  McAllister  had,  in  her  very  pres- 
ence, balanced  the  profit  and  loss  of  the  encounters. 
The  situation  was  revolting,  and  she  came  to  a  determi- 
nation that  should  she  ever  converse  with  Monro  again, 
her  own  coldness  would  disillusionise  the  young  man,  if 
he  presumed  upon  her  supposed  preference.  Still  he  was 
400 


"There  is' money  ;  spend  it"    401 

unlikely  to  do  that,  and  she  shuddered  as  she  thought  he 
might  imagine  she  was  actually  encouraging  him.  She 
laughed  scornfully  to  herself  at  this  reflection ;  it  seemed 
absurd,  yet  could  she  be  but  sure  that  he  entertained 
such  an  idea,  her  contempt  should  cut  him  like  a  whip, 
when  next  they  met,  if  indeed  they  ever  did  meet,  an 
occurrence  she  would  take  good  care  to  avoid.  The  new 
store  should  never  see  her  again ;  she  would  send  a 
cheque  for  the  purchases  made,  and  there  an  end. 

And  now,  illumined  by  this  latest  episode,  her  former 
complaisance  toward  him  assumed  a  new  significance, 
and  she  passed  through  a  humiliation  of  memory,  con- 
demning herself  for  an  unwonted  interest  in  a  stranger 
not  even  properly  introduced.  She  blamed  the  magic  of 
the  clear  lake  during  that  unconventional  morning  walk 
along  its  silver  shores,  and  then,  with  a  spasm  of  honesty, 
transferred  the  censure  to  her  own  heedless  shoulders. 
Well,  it  should  be  a  lesson  to  her,  and  a  beacon  of  warn- 
ing for  the  future.  She  would  forget  his  existence,  and 
if  he  remembered  her  what  did  it  matter? 

The  cheque  was  promptly  sent,  and  had  she  known 
its  fate  her  distress  might  perhaps  have  been  mitigated. 
As  a  matter  of  course,  the  slip  of  paper  passed  through 
the  hands  of  James  Monro,  and  he  gazed  long  at  its  sig- 
nature, as  if  questioning  its  worth.  This,  however, 
could  not  have  been  the  case,  for,  looking  about  him  and 
satisfying  himself  that  he  was  alone,  he  took  furtively 
from  his  purse  the  amount  nominated  in  the  bond,  placed 
that  sum  into  the  bait  the  bank  was  to  swallow,  then 
folded  the  cheque  and  put  it  into  his  pocket-book — a 
most  unbusiness-like  transaction,  nowhere  to  be  dupli- 
cated in  New  York  that  day,  for  surely  a  draft  is  value- 
less unless  it  is  to  be  cashed. 

The  activity  of  New  York  lends  itself  to  the  art  of 
forgetting.  There  is  much  going  forward  there,  and 
even  a  retentive  memory  has  some  ado  to  hold  its  own. 
Grace  Van  Ness  went  West  with  her  father  in  his  private 
car,  and  then  South  to  the  opening  of  the  new  railway. 
She  saw  him  off  for  Europe  and  had  half  a  wish  to 
accompany  him,  but  the  journey  was  to  be  a  hurried  one, 
26 


402  The  Victors 

so  her  voyage  was  postponed  until  a  more  convenient 
season.  These  events  aided  Miss  Van  Ness  in  driving 
from  her  mind  the  disturbing  remembrance  of  her  visit 
to  the  glass  room  on  Sixth  Avenue.  If  a  stray  thought  of 
Monro  intruded  itself,  she  sent  it  forth  as  an  uninvited 
guest,  and  at  last  came  to  the  conclusion  that  she  was 
finally  rid  of  all  such. 

One  morning  the  unsought  remembrance  was  brought 
sharply  to  her  consciousness.  It  was  not  a  time  when 
visitors  were  to  be  expected,  and  the  girl  sat  in  her  own 
morning  room  at  the  rear  of  the  house,  overlooking  the 
quiet,  green  lawn,  with  a  fountain  sending  up  a  thin  jet 
into  the  air.  The  room  was  partly  boudoir,  partly  li- 
brary, partly  study  and  partly  parlour:  an  interesting 
chamber,  not  too  large  to  lose  an  air  of  cosiness ;  not  too 
small  to  be  overcrowded  by  its  furnishing.  Three  book- 
cases held  favourite  volumes,  while  tempting  e"asy  chairs 
and  rockers  invited  their  perusal.  An  open  rolltop  desk 
in  a  corner  bestowed  an  office  air  to  the  apartment,  while 
a  daintier  davenport,  richly  inlaid,  prettier,  less  con- 
venient and  less  solid,  suggested  the  writing  of  social  in- 
vitations in  contrast  to  the  other's  hint  of  business  docu- 
ments. An  open  window  gave  access  to  a  balcony,  and 
from  this  a  flight  of  steps  led  down  to  the  lawn  and  the 
fountain. 

Grace  heard  the  bell  ring,  but  paid  no  heed  to  it.  She 
was  aware  of  a  conference  at  the  door,  then  a  raised  voice 
cried : 

"  Gone  to  Europe !     When  will  he  return  ?  " 

The  reply  of  the  servant  was  inaudible. 

"Is  Miss  Van  Ness  in?" 

Again  the  murmur  of  the  menial,  indistinguishable. 

"Well,  just  find  out,  will  you?  No;  I  haven't  a  card 
with  me.  Say  it's  Mr.  McAllister,  and  tell  her  it's  most 
important  I  should  see  her." 

It  needed  no  announcement  of  the  name  to  acquaint 
Grace  Van  Ness  with  the  identitv  of  the  caller.  The 
voice  did  that  the  moment  she  heard  it.  She  was  stand- 
ing by  her  desk  when  the  servant  gave  his  message. 

"  I  am  not  at  home,"  she  said.  The  servant  turned. 
"  Wait  a  moment."  A  shade  of  perplexity  clouded  her 


"  There  is  money  ;  spend  it  "          403 

smooth  brow.  "  Oh,  very  well,"  she  added  at  last,  "  show 
him  in  here." 

The  voice  which  rang  so  stridently  through  the  hall, 
accustomed  to  softly  spoken  cadences,  had  in  it  an  under- 
tone of  despair  which  had  appealed,  in  spite  of  herself, 
to  the  girl's  sympathy.  It  was  a  cry  of  distress,  com- 
monplace as  were  the  uttered  words. 

When  McAllister  came  in  she  was  startled  to  see  the 
change  that  had  taken  place  in  his  appearance  since  last 
she  met  him.  He  was  thin,  pale  and  haggard,  with  a 
fierce  light  in  his  eye  that  savoured  of  insanity.  As  he 
came  impulsively  forward,  she  drew  back  instinctively 
toward  the  wall,  but  McAllister  did  not  notice  the  shrink- 
ing; he  shook  her  reluctant  hand  with  excessive  cor- 
diality. There  was  a  tremor  almost  of  tears  in  his 
voice  when  he  spoke. 

"  Miss  Van  Ness,  it  is  more  than  good  of  you  to  see 
me  when  I  am  practically  a  stranger  to  you.  I  will  come 
directly  to  the  point,  for  I  am  sure  you  are  wondering 
why  I  called  at  such  an  hour.  Miss  Van  Ness,  you  are 
the  one  person  in  the  world  to  whom  I  can  turn  in  my 
time  of  need,  in  my  hour  of  trouble.  I  am  on  the  very 
verge  of  bankruptcy.  If  I  cannot  raise  ten  thousand  dol- 
lars I  must  see  everything  I  possess  swept  away,  all  my 
plans  brought  to  nothing.  I  have  tried  to  get  the  money 
everywhere  I  thought  there  was  a  chance  of  obtaining 
it,  and  now  you  are  my  last  hope." 

McAllister  paused,  breathing  hard,  like  a  man  who  is 
running  a  race,  and  drew  his  handkerchief  across  his 
brow.  The  girl  looked  at  him,  almost  in  fear. 

"  Won't  you  sit  down  ?  "  she  asked  quietly.  She  had 
been  standing  and  had  swiftly  resolved  before  he  came 
in  not  to  ask  him  to  be  seated.  McAllister  sank  into  an 
easy  chair  with  a  sigh,  while  she  took  a  chair  beside  the 
desk. 

"  You  asked  for  my  father,  did  you  not  ?  He  is  in 
Europe." 

"  Yes,  so  they  told  me.  I  remembered  you  said  at 
the  store  you  were  not  going  to  Europe  with  him,  and  I 
told  you  I  was  glad  of  it.  Now  I  know  why  I  said  that." 


404  The  Victors 

"  Do  you  expect  me  to  find  such  a  sum  of  money  as 
you  mentioned  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"Why?" 

"  Well,  you  are  a  rich  woman,  are  you  not,  Miss  Van 
Ness?" 

The  girl  laughed  nervously,  looking  down  at  her 
desk. 

"  I  don't  know  that  I  am,"  she  replied  at  last,  "  and 
even  if  I  were,  I  do  not  see  how  you  can  expect  me  to 
put  money  into  a  business  which  you  say  is  on  the  verge 
of  bankruptcy.  That  is  surely  a  strange  inducement  to 
offer  an  investor." 

"  I  speak  the  exact  truth  to  you,  Miss  Van  Ness.  Yes, 
it  would  be  a  strange  reason  to  give  an  investor.  It 
would  not  be  business,  but  this  is  not  a  matter  of  busi- 
ness." 

Grace  looked  up  quickly,  some  trace  of  a  frown  on 
her  brow. 

"  What  is  it  then  ?  "  she  asked  shortly. 

"  It  'is  business,  of  course,  in  a  way,  but  I  thought  you 
would  let  me  have  the  money  without  requiring  strict 
commercial  reasons  for  doing  so." 

"  I  cannot  imagine  why  you  should  think  that." 

"  Well,  Miss  Van  Ness,  I  would  rather  not  explain. 
All  I  can  say  is,  I  felt  certain  you  would  favour  me  with 
the  money  if  you  had  it.  The  only  question  in  my  mind 
was  whether  you  could  place  your  hands  on  such  a  sum 
during  your  father's  absence." 

"  That  was  the  only  question,  was  it?  Not  very  flat- 
tering to  me  or  to  my  business  capabilities,  I  must  say. 
Perhaps  I  can  help  you  to  explain,  Mr.  McAllister.  As 
a  first  guess,  it  did  not  occur  to  you  in  the  beginning  to 
come  to  me." 

"  You  are  quite  right;  it  did  not." 

"  As  a  second  guess,  the  suggestion  was  made  to 
you?  " 

"Yes,  it  was." 

"  And  you  eagerly  accepted  it?  " 

"  No,  Miss  Van  Ness,  on  the  contrary,  I  resisted  it. 


"  There  is  money  ;  spend  it  "  405 

I  flatly  refused  to  come  here.  I  tried  everywhere  else. 
I  went  to  my  old  employers — the  men  for  whom  we  did 
the  surveying  down  in  North  Carolina — they  laughed 
me  out  of  their  office.  They  could  well  have  put  up  the 
money  and  never  have  missed  it,  even  if  it  were  lost, 
which  it  won't  be.  Everywhere  I  was  refused." 

"  What  extraordinary  inducements  you  offer  me  for 
making  you  a  loan !  You  expect  me  to  accept  a  se- 
curity that  no  one  else  in  New  York  will  look  at." 

"  I  don't  ask  a  loan.  I  will  give  you  ten  thousand  dol- 
lars' worth  of  stock  in  our  business  for  the  money.'' 

"  Stock  in  a  bankrupt  enterprise !  I  am  confident  you 
were  to  conceal  that  fact  from  me." 

"  Certainly  not.  He  told  me  I  could  not  fail  to  get 
the  money.  '  Go  to  Miss  Van  Ness/  he  said,  '  and 
you're  sure  of  the  ten  thousand.'  I  didn't  want  to  come, 
as  I  told  you,  but  you  see  I  had  to,  at  last,  and  even  now 
I  asked  for  your  father,  and  would  have  gone  to  him 
if  he  had  been  here,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  there  is  One 
who  knows  what  you  will  do — " 

"  Oh,  this  is  intolerable ! "  cried  Grace  Van  Ness, 
rising.  Her  agitated  fingers  had  been  tapping  the  desk 
impatiently  as  he  went  fatuously  on,  entirely  oblivious  to 
the  effect  his  words  were  producing.  The  rich  colour 
stained  the  former  pallor  of  her  face. 

"  This  is  intolerable !  "  she  repeated.  "  Tell  your  con- 
fident friend  that  he  is  mistaken,  that — " 

"  He  cannot  be,  Miss  Van  Ness." 

"  But  I  say  he  is,  and  I  assure  you  my  word  is  final. 
How  dare  you  come  to  me  with  such  a  recital!  I  don't 
wonder  you  hesitate  to  confess  it.  I  suppose  Mr. 
Monro,  shrewder  than  you,  cautioned  you  not  to  men- 
tion it." 

"  Monro  ?     Why,  Jim  knows  nothing  about  it." 

"  You  have  just  admitted  that  he  ordered  you  to  come 
to  me." 

"Who?  Jim!  He's  the  last  man  in  the  world  to 
think  of  such  a  thing." 

"  Then  of  whom  were  you  speaking?  Who  suggested 
that  you  should  ask  me  for  the  money  ?  " 


406  The  Victors 

"  The  Lord.  I  was  afraid  you  would  not  understand, 
but  there  it  is.  Jim  begs  me  not  to  thrust  my  religious 
faith  into  people's  faces,  especially  in  matters  of  busi- 
ness. But  the  Lord  has  stood  my  friend  too  often  for 
me  to  doubt  His  power.  I  would  proclaim  Him  from  the 
housetops,  but  I  recognise  that  Jim  has  a  right  to  make 
his  views  felt  in  our  partnership,  so,  usually,  I  keep 
silence,  except  with  him.'' 

Grace  gazed  at  the  perfervid  speaker  with  wide-open 
eves.  She  saw  that  he  had  not  noticed,  in  his  rapt  pre- 
occupation, the  error  of  identity  into  which  she  had 
fallen.  Gently  she  sank  down  into  her  chair  again,  rested 
her  elbow  on  the  desk  and  shaded  her  flushed  face 
with  her  hand.  When  the  rhapsody  ceased  she  said 
quietly : 

"  Is  your  faith  in  the  success  of  your  business  as  firm 
as  your  faith  in  Providence?" 

"  Of  course.  They're  one  and  the  same  thing.  That's 
where  people  make  their  great  mistake.  They  believed  in 
the  power  of  the  Lord  in  Bible  times,  but  they  don't 
realise  that  Jehovah  is  unchanging.  I  tell  you,  Miss 
Van  Ness,  the  Almighty  is  the  most  potent  business  force 
in  the  United  States  to-day,  if  we  would  but  acknowl- 
edge the  fact." 

"  You  think  then  that  I  shall  not  lose  the  money  if  I 
entrust  it  to  you  ?  " 

"  Lose  it  ?  Why,  it  will  make  you  one  of  the  richest 
women  in  New  York.  Lose  it?  You  can't  lose  it." 

The  girl  took  her  hand  from  her  face,  having  recovered 
her  composure.  She  drew  forth  a  book  from  a  pigeon- 
hole in  the  desk,  consulted  it  for  a  few  moments  and 
made  some  figures  on  a  pad  with  a  pencil. 

"  If  I  give  you  a  cheque  for  five  thousand  dollars  now, 
and  another  for  the  same  amount  this  day  week,  will 
that  do?" 

"  Perfectly.  As  long  as  I  can  promise  people  a 
definite  date  for  payment  that  will  be  sufficient." 

"Very  well." 

She  wrote  out  a  cheque  and  handed  it  to  him  with  a 
smile. 


"  There  is  money  ;  spend  it  "  407 

"  I  am  trusting  in  you  rather  than  in  the  Lord,  Mr. 
McAllister.'' 

"Don't  say  that,  Miss  Van  Ness." 

"  Well,  in  both,  then.  Mr.  McAllister,  you  are  the 
most  remarkable  man  I  have  ever  met.  I  will  post  the 
other  cheque  to  you  next  week." 


CHAPTER    XIII 

"WHAT,    WILT  THOU   FLOUT   ME   THUS?" 

MCALLISTER  seemed  to  be  walking  down  Fifth  Ave- 
nue ;  in  reality  he  was  treading  on  air.  His  head  was  in 
the  clouds,  and  his  thoughts  soared  into  regions  still 
more  lofty.  His  elastic  temperament  had  hoisted  him  at 
a  bound  from  a  state  of  the  deepest  depression  into 
realms  of  bliss  undreamed  of  by  the  most  visionary 
opium  eater.  The  path  to  success  was  cleared  with  a 
sweep  of  the  hand,  and  the  obstacles  which  lay  upon  it  so 
heavily  an  hour  ago  had  vanished  into  space.  He  thought 
that  nothing  now  could  daunt  him.  Automatically  he 
crossed  Broadway  and  so  into  Sixth  Avenue.  His  feet 
took  him  to  his  place  of  business  without  direction  from 
his  head.  The  sight  of  his  own  store  brought  him  down 
to  the  realities  of  life  without  detracting  from  his  jubi- 
lant exultation.  Never  had  the  pavement  before  it 
seemed  so  thronged ;  never  had  the  great  plate-glass 
windows  looked  so  attractive.  Never  were  there  so  many 
buyers  inside,  and  he  walked  through  among  them,  re- 
pressing an  inclination  to  shout  and  to  slap  the  dignified 
Holderness  on  the  back.  But  he  succeeded  in  reaching 
the  glass  office  without  undue  demonstration,  and  there, 
with  shoulders  bent  over  his  desk,  was  a  man  who 
would  make  heavy  draft  on  his  fund  of  self-congratula- 
tion. Ben's  hat,  ready  to  drop  down  his  back,  was 
tossed  jauntily  into  a  corner,  and,  rapping  his  knuckles 
on  Monro's  desk,  he  laughed  out: 

"  Jimmy,  my  boy,  I've  got  the  money." 

"  Thank  God  for  that,"  said  Monro,  looking  up  with 
a  sigh  of  relief,  and  smiling  in  sympathy  with  the 
other's  boyish  antics. 

"  Exactly.  You're  putting  the  thanks  where  they  be- 
408 


"What,  wilt  thou  flout  me  thus?"     409 

long,  and  don't  you  forget  it.  Now,  James,  my  son,  just 
soak  that  cheque  into  the  bank,  where  it  will  do  the  most 
good,  and  don't  get  discouraged  the  next  time  your 
uncle  goes  a-foraging." 

Monro  took  up  the  cheque  so  joyously  thrown  down 
before  him,  glanced  at  it,  then  fixed  his  gaze  upon  it. 
The  writing  might  have  been  couched  in  some  language 
he  could  not  understand,  so  intently  did  he  scrutinise  it. 
Suddenly  the  paper  dropped  from  his  hands  as  if  it.  had 
scorched  his  fingers.  He  wheeled  round  in  his  swivel 
chair,  white  about  the  lips. 

"  Where  did  you  get  this  cheque  ?  "  he  asked,  almost 
in  a  whisper. 

"  Where?     Didn't  you  read  the  name?" 

"  Do  you  mean  to  say  you  asked  Miss  Van  Ness  for 
the  money  ?  " 

"Yes,  and  I  got  it,  too." 

Jim  rose  to  his  feet. 

"  Ben,  that  cheque  must  go  back.  It  is  not  to  be 
cashed.'' 

"  Why,  what  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  My  meaning  is  plain  enough.  I  cannot  have  Miss 
Van  Ness  put  her  money  into  a  sinking  concern.  You 
know  that  this  business  is  practically  insolvent.  You 
had  no  right  to  go  to  her  and  delude  her  into  thinking 
she  is  making  a  profitable  investment." 

"Delude?  I  didn't  delude  any  one.  I  told  her  ex- 
actly how  we  were  situated." 

"  Oh,  I  know  the  way  you  talk.  You  had  no  right  to 
go  there." 

"  Why  hadn't  I  ?  " 

"  Well,  if  you  don't  understand  why  you  hadn't,  I'll 
never  be  able  to  explain.  You  seem  to  lack  a  certain 
feeling  of  delicacy — " 

"  Thunder,  Jim !  You  told  me  yourself  you  didn't 
care  anything  about  her." 

Monro  made  a  gesture  of  impatience. 

"  That  has  nothing  to  do  with  it.  I  tell  you  the  most 
hardened  gambler  in  Wall  Street  would  have  some  hesi- 
tation about  approaching  a  lady  for  money.  This  cheque 
must  go  back." 


4io  The  Victors 

McAllister  picked  up  the  paper,  folded  it  again  and 
put  it  into  his  pocket-book. 

"Will  you  send  it  back?"  persisted  Monro,  still 
speaking  with  enforced  calmness. 

"  Of  course,  if  you  say  so,  but  you  must  remember 
there  are  other  interests  at  stake  besides  yours  or  your 
delicate  feelings.  There's  Holderncss'  money,  for  in- 
stance. Will  you  refund  it  if  our  business  goes  down? 
Now,  Jim,  be  reasonable.  You  know  we  simply  must 
have  this  money.  I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do.  There's  all 
New  York  outside.  Put  on  your  hat,  go  out  and  bring 
in  ten  thousand  dollars,  then  I'll  send  this  cheque  back 
with  thanks.  You  can't  do  it,  eh?  I  know  you  can't. 
Such  a  sum  isn't  to  be  picked  up  on  every  street  corner. 
Very  well,  then;  don't  object  when  I've  found  the  cash." 

"  Why,  curse  it  all,  you  never  would  have  known  her 
if  it  hadn't  been  for  me.  You've  found  the  cash !  I  say, 
by  God,  that  cheque  goes  back." 

"  Look  here,  Jim,  I  won't  have  any  swearing  in  this 
office." 

"  You'll  have  worse  than  swearing  in  a  minute — " 

"  You're  getting  excited  all  for  nothing.  You  think 
she  gave  me  the  cheque  because  she  knows  you.  Noth- 
ing of  the  sort.  She  believes  as  I  do  that  this  investment 
will  make  her  a  rich  woman." 

Monro  took  a  few  quick  turns  in  the  room  until  he  had 
gained  control  over  himself  once  more.  Then  he  spoke 
with  some  of  his  usual  calmness. 

"  Are  you  going  to  cash  that  cheque  ?  " 

"  Certainly.  Within  half  an  hour  from  now  it  will 
be  in  the  bank.  I'll  put  it  there  myself  to  make  sure." 

"  Very  well  then,  I  leave  this  business." 

"  I'm  sorry.  I'll  do  the  best  I  can  without  you,  and 
you  may  be  sure  that  you  will  get  every  penny  of  your 
share  by-and-by,  multiplied  a  thousand-fold." 

"  Damn  the  shares !  " 

Monro  put  on  his  hat  and  walked  out  of  the  estab- 
lishment, looking  neither  to  the  right  nor  left.  He  took 
exactly  the  same  route  by  which  his  partner  had  so 
shortly  before  returned,  in  a  very  different  state  of  mind. 


"What,  wilt  thou  flout  me  thus?"     411 

He  was  hardly  in  the  proper  mood  for  making  his  first 
call  upon  an  estimable  young  lady,  but  he  gave  no 
thought  to  that,  striding  on  with  a  vehemence  that  scat- 
tered unwary  pedestrians  this  way  and  that,  leaving  un- 
heeded in  his  trail  curses  as  deep  as  his  own.  This,  how- 
ever, is  a  world  of  compensations.  Metaphorically  he 
had  thrown  a  pail  of  cold  water  over  his  enthusiastic 
partner,  who  had  done  his  best,  and  who  at  that  moment 
was  sitting  disconsolately  at  his  desk  with  his  head  in 
his  hands ;  now  Monro  was  on  his  way  to  receive  his 
own  douche. 

Grace  Van  Ness  reclined  in  a  low  easy  chair  by  the 
open  window,  gazing  abstractedly  at  the  thin  uprising 
jet  of  the  tinkling  fountain  outside.  She  was  reviewing 
the  various  phases  of  the  extraordinary  conversation  so 
shortly  before  concluded  with  McAllister,  and  trying  to 
discover  why  she  had  made  such  an  unconsidered  invest- 
ment of  more  money  than  she  could  conveniently  part 
with  until  her  father  returned.  That  he  would  censure 
her  imprudence  she  had  not  the  slightest  fear.  He  would 
laugh  at  her,  and  she  herself  laughed  at  the  mental  pic- 
ture she  drew  of  her  father's  bantering  hilarity  over  her 
financial  foresight  She  endeavored  to  find  some  rea- 
sonable excuse  for  her  entirely  unpremeditated  action. 
First  there  was  her  womanly  sympathy  for  one  so  mani- 
festly stricken  as  McAllister,  a  man  fighting  with  his 
back  to  the  wall  in  that  terrible  commercial  arena  where 
no  quarter  is  given.  Yet  prudence  whispered  that  she 
could  not  save  all  such ;  victims  were  going  down  around 
her  every  day.  It  was  doubtful  if  she  had  rescued  even 
this  man.  She  had  prolonged  the  struggle,  but  could  be 
sure  of  no  further  outcome.  Then,  there  was  her  error 
in  regarding  Monro  as  the  instigator  of  the  visit.  That 
was  the  critical  point  of  the  encounter;  the  sudden  dis- 
covery that  she  was  mistaken,  the  sudden  upleap  of  joy  in 
her  own  heart  that  she  was  mistaken,  the  sudden  fear 
that  McAllister  would  penetrate  the  mystery  of  her  mis- 
apprehension, the  sudden  relief  at  seeing  the  single- 
minded  man  had  no  more  suspicion  of  it  than  knowledge 
of  the  fact  that  he  was  conversing  with  the  most  charm- 


412  The  Victors 

ingly  dressed  woman  in  New  York.  (Her  morning 
gown  was  a  ravishing  dream  from  Paris.)  All  these 
things  had  formed  a  series  of  such  rapidly  conflicting 
emotions  that  the  reaction  left  her  completely  at  McAl- 
lister's mercy.  She  laughed  again  softly  at  the  picture 
she  conjured  of  her  own  helplessness  and  was  thankful 
that,  all  in  all,  his  demands  had  been  so  moderate. 

But  what  would  James  Monro  think  when  her  cheque 
passed  through  his  hands  for  an  amount  so  considerable  ? 
What  version  would  McAllister  give  his  partner  of  the 
negotiations  which  had  resulted  in  the  transfer  of  that 
bit  of  paper?  If  the  account  were  accurately  rendered 
would  Monro  read  between  the  lines  the  secret  that  had 
been  overlooked  by  McAllister?  The  smooth  brow  be- 
came troubled,  the  sweet  lips  more  firmly  closed.  The 
disconcerting  rever.'e  was  interrupted  by  a  slight  tap  at 
the  door. 

"  Mr.  James  Monro  would  like  to  see  you  for  a  mo- 
ment, miss.'' 

The  girl  sat  up  very  straight  in  her  easy  chair,  an  ex- 
pression of  alarm  coming  swiftly  to  her  eyes,  the  name 
uttered  chiming  so  intimately  with  the  theme  of  her 
thoughts. 

"What — what  tiid  you  say?" 

"  Mr.  Monro,  miss,  wants  to  see  you  for  a  moment, 
miss.'' 

"  Very  well."  She  leaned  back  again,  breathing 
quickly.  "  Show  him  into  the — no,  bring  him  here." 

James  Monro  had  come  on  no  money-hunting  expedi- 
tion, and  his  vision  was  not  obscured  by  the  jaundice  of 
gold.  .  The  supreme  lotus  flower  half  reclining  before 
him,  with  slender  fingers  interlaced,  and  mocking  hazel 
eyes  uplifted  toward  him,  formed  an  entrancing  picture 
of  luxurious  indolence.  He  knew  nothing'  of  Paris 
gowns,  but  he  saw  instinctively  that  anything  added  to 
or  detracted  from  this  vision  would  be  an  interference 
with  perfection.  The  seemingly  negligent  massing  of  her 
auburn  hair  was  in  itself  a  bewilderment ;  it  was  almost 
the  first  time  he  had  seen  her  without  a  hat,  and  as  his 
dazzled  eyes  sank  from  this  sunset  effect  they  encoun- 


"What,  wilt  thou  flout  me  thus?"     413 

tered  the  vanishing  and  reappearing  tip  of  a  dainty  slip- 
per swaying  lazily  in  a  wave-crest  of  ioamy  lace. 

"  Good  morning,  Mr.  Monro.  Will  you  forgive  in- 
ertia and  excuse  my  inaction  ?  I  am  so  deliciously  com- 
fortable here  that  I  hate  to  move  and  as  the  hour  is  early 
I  was  not  expecting  visitors.  Please  sit  down  in  the 
most  lethargic  chair  you  can  find,  that  you  may  not  be 
a  standing  reproach  to  a  dawdling  woman.'' 

Monro  seated  himself  rather  blindly  on  the  first  chair 
that  came  to  hand.  His  hat  fell  to  the  floor ;  he  made  an 
ineffectual  effort  at  rescue,  then  abandoned  the  attempt 
when  it  rolled  out  of  reach  in  a  corner.  The  traces  of 
storm  had  not  yet  cleared  from  his  countenance,  which 
was  now  overspread  with  a  flush  of  vexation  at  his  own 
awkwardness.  She  watched  him  through  half-closed 
lids,  a  faint  smile  on  her  lips,  but  showed  no  inclination 
to  put  him  further  at  his  ease  by  either  word  or  action. 

"  Yes,  it  is  early,"  he  said  at  last,  "  but  I  suspect  you 
have  had  a  visitor  before  me." 

"  There  is  certainly  a  precedent  for  your  call.  How 
far  down  the  list  of  members  of  your  firm  do  you  think 
it  will  extend?  Am  I  to  look  for  Mr.  Holderness  next? 
Why  not  come  in  a  body ;  make  it  a  sort  of  annual  out- 
ing? But  I  think  you  should  give  me  notice,  that  I 
might  provide  refreshment.'' 

"  Miss  Van  Ness,  you  are  laughing  at  me,  but  I  assure 
you  I  am  very  serious." 

"  I  see  you  are,  and  I  don't  object  to  that,  unless  you 
insist  on  my  being  serious,  too." 

"  You  must  stop  the  payment  on  that  cheque  you  gave 
to  McAllister  this  morning,  and  there  is  no  time  to  be 
lost." 

"  Must?  Really  that  is  a  most  unusual  request ;  or 
should  I  rather  say  command?  One  does  not  sign 
cheques  in  order  to  countermand  them.  This  is  not  the 
first  of  April,  Mr.  Monro." 

"  You  do  not  understand  the  situation,  Miss  Van  Ness. 
We  are  on  the  verge  of  bankruptcy  and — 

"  Almost  the  very  words  your  partner  used,"  drawled 
the  young  woman. 


414  The  Victors 

"  What  ?  Did  he  tell  you  there  was  every  chance  of 
the  money  being  totally  lost  ?  " 

"  He  intimated  as  much.  Of  course,  I  know  that  great 
gains  are  usually  preceded  by  great  risks.  I  am  taking 
the  present  risk  for  the  chance  of  the  future  gain.  My 
father  has  told  me  that  much  money  is  made  by  buying 
when  concerns  are  on  the  verge  of  bankruptcy." 

"  Yes,  but  you  are  not  buying  at  bankrupt  prices ;  you 
are  taking  stock  at  its  face  value — at  par,  in  fact,  when 
it  is  not  worth  one  per  cent,  on  the  market.  If  a  forced 
sale  came  on  us — if  we  went  into  the  hands  of  a  re- 
ceiver who  insisted  on  immediate  realisation,  the  whole 
business  would  not  bring  in  cash  what  you  are  paying 
for  a  minute  fraction  of  it.'' 

"  I  understand  that  perfectly." 

''  Then  why  did  you  let  him  have  the  money?  " 

"  Because  I  have  a  great  belief  in  Mr.  McAllister." 

"  For  no  other  reason  ?  " 

"What  other  reason  do  you  suggest?" 

"  I  make  no  suggestion.'' 

"  Oh,  I  beg  your  pardon,  but  you  do.  What  other  rea- 
son is  in  your  mind?" 

(Now,  James  Monro,  why  scrutinise  that  Persian  rug 
at  your  feet?  Its  design  and  workmanship  are  incom- 
parable, no  doubt,  but  they  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
point  at  issue.  Answer  her  question  like  an  honest  man. 
Say  that  you  care  so  much  for  her  that  you  cannot  bear 
to  have  her  suffer  the  smallest  loss  if  you  can  prevent  it. 
Do  not  confuse  your  mind  with  non-essentials.  All  these 
evidences  of  wealth  around  you  should  have  no  influ- 
ence upon  your  thoughts.  A  man  is  a  man,  and,  be  he 
straightforward,  there  is  nothing  better  in  this  world, 
save  a  woman  who  is  also  straightforward,  and  there  she 
sits  before  you.  The  main  thing  is  that  you  are  alone 
with  her,  not  to  be  interrupted,  and  such  a  situation, 
whether  in  barn  or  boudoir,  is  priceless.  Raise  your 
head  quickly  and  intercept  that  look  now  bent  upon  you, 
before  she  has  time  to  veil  it  with  seeming  indiffer- 
ence. ) 

"  You  will  not  answer  my  question  ?  "    Her  voice  was 


"  What,  wilt  thou  flout  me  thus  ?  "     415 

suave  and  the  lids  half-closed  again.  "  Has  Mr.  Mc- 
Allister obtained  money  from  others  beside  myself?" 

"  Yes.  From  every  person  who  would  let  him  have 
it." 

(Now  you  look  up  eagerly  enough,  but  you  have 
missed  something.  She  is  talking  to  you  about  money, 
but  not  thinking  of  it.  A  moment  since  her  heart  was 
beating  faster  than  her  nonchalant  attitude  would  have 
led  you  to  suppose,  had  you  but  glanced  at  her,  undoubt- 
edly more  beautiful  than  any  weft  of  a  Persian  loom.) 

"  And  do  you  think  these  people  will  also  lose  their 
investments?  " 

"  If  one  loses,  all  will  lose." 

"  What  did  they  say  when  you  warned  them  ?  " 

"  Warned  them  ?     I  didn't  warn  them." 

"Then  why  do  you  warn  me?" 

"  I — I — you   see  it's   different — I— 

"  Come,  Mr.  Monro,  do  not  hesitate.  Surely  you  real- 
ise the  humiliating  position  in  which  you  place  me.  You 
are  actually  assuming  that  I  gave  this  cheque  because  I 
had —  Oh,  I  cannot  bring  myself  to  state  it,  yet  it  must 
be  stated.  You  dare  to  hint  that  I  was  influenced  by 
some  partiality  for  Mr.  James  Monro — a  man  whom  I 
have  met  two  or  three  times  in  the  most  casual  way.  Be- 
cause he  has  extended  to  me  a  few  courtesies,  and  be- 
cause I  have  been  so  foolish  as  to  accept  them,  he 
thinks — '' 

"  I — I  assure  you,  Miss  Van  Ness,  you  are  mistaken,'' 
cried  Monro,  rising,  or  rather  staggering  to  his  feet. 

"  I  am  not  mistaken.  Your  whole  attitude  bears  out 
my  suspicion.  Why  have  you  the  presumption  to  come 
here  and  offer  me  unasked  advice?  You  took  no  such 
trouble  with  the  others,  it  seems.  You  must  have  im- 
agined that  I  would  receive  your  advice — yes — your 
commands,  even,  for  it  was  in  that  form  your  will  was 
first  presented — with  all  the  docile  humility  of  an  in- 
fatuated woman.  Well,  if  this  visit  has  disabused  your 
mind  of  all  such  preposterous  ideas  I  shall  not  be  sorry 
you  made  it,  even  if  you  have  compelled  me  to  speak 
very  plainly  to  you." 


416  The  Victors 

In  some  way  James  Monro  had  secured  his  hat,  and 
he  held  it  now  with  both  hands,  as  if  he  would  like  to  be 
sure  of  something.  He  stood  his  ground,  too,  with 
quiet  stubbornness  when  he  had  better  have  followed  his 
departed  opportunity  and  taken  his  leave.  But  he  felt 
he  was  being  treated  unjustly  and  with  unnecessary 
harshness. 

"  You  take  no  account  of  my  sense  of  responsibility. 
If  it  had  not  been  for  me  you  never  would  have  met 
Benjamin  McAllister.  If  you  lose  your  money  I  hold 
myself  to  blame." 

"  Your  sense  of  responsibility  would  appear  to  better 
advantage  in  assisting  the  efforts  of  your  partner  than  in 
attempting  to  undermine  them/' 

"  Undermine  them  ?  " 

"  Certainly.  What  else  are  you  doing  here  ?  Does  he 
know  of  your  errand?" 

"  No."  ' 

"  I  was  sure  of  it." 

"  I  will  withdraw  from  the  company.'' 

"  You  will  apologise  to  Mr.  AIcAllister  and  remain 
with  him." 

"  I  will  apologise  to  him ;  I  see  I  have  wronged  him ; 
he  is  so  optimistic  that  I  feared  he  had — still  that  does 
not  matter — I  was  mistaken.'' 

"  You  will  say  nothing  to  him  of  your  visit  here." 

:<  Then  how  can  I  apologise  to  him  for  what  you  re- 
gard as  my  treachery  toward  him  ?  " 

"  By  the  only  kind  of  apology  that  is  of  any  value. 
By  working  with  him  and  thus  helping  to  make  sure  that 
the  money  is  not  lost." 

'*  Very  well,  FJ1  do  it.  Good-bye  and  forgive  me,  if 
you  can,  for  coming." 

"  Good-bye." 

(Yes,  James,  they  can  be  hard  when  they  like,  and  it 
is  no  consolation,  is  it,  that  they  may  suffer  when  they 
inflict.  It  might  have  been  different  had  you  inter- 
cepted that  glance  unaware.  But  very  likely  you  would 
not  have  known  what  it  meant.) 


CHAPTER    I 

"THEY  ARE  so  LINKED  IN  FRIENDSHIP' 

PATRICK  MAGUIRE  took  up  his  residence  in  the  ward 
that  once  upon  a  time  elected  him  alderman;  for 
although  he  had  resigned  the  honour  upon  being  appoint- 
ed Fire  Escape  Inspector,  there  were  many  people  in  the 
district  who  were  friends  of  his,  and  he  liked  to  be  near 
them.  And,  by  the  same  token,  Patrick  himself  spared 
no  trouble  to  oblige  a  friend ;  he  was  never  so  busy  but 
he  would  drop  h!s  own  concerns  at  the  word  and  tramp 
the  town  to  confer  a  favour  upon  one  who  needed  it.  No 
matter  how  poor  the  applicant  might  be,  no  matter  how 
slight  his  political  influence,  Maguire  spared  no  pains 
in  accomplishing  the  service  sought,  doing  it  cheerfully, 
making  nothing  of  it,  and  leaving  no  weight  of  obligation 
on  the  shoulders  he  had  lightened  of  some  burden.  Fre- 
quently he  was  offered  money  by  people  who  could  ill 
afford  it,  who  wanted  this  or  that  axe  ground ;  but 
Pat,  to  their  amazement,  would  never  touch  a  penny ;  yet 
his  refusal  gave  no  hint  of  any  high  moral  standpoint 
that  reduced  the  would-be  briber  to  a  lower  plane  than 
himself.  He  never  left  behind  him  a  rankling  sense  of 
his  own  superiority. 

"  Look  here,"  he  would  say,  patting  the  other  on  the 
back  or  throwing  an  arm  about  IT'S  shoulder,  "  the  little 
tr'fle  I've  done  for  you  to-day,  you'll  do  for  me  in  some 
27  417 


4i 8  The  Victors 

other  way,  to-morrow  or  next  day  or  never,  as  it 
happens.  If  you  never  do  me  a  good  turn  it'll  be  for 
want  of  the  chance  and  not  for  want  of  the  will.  It's 
well  I  know  that.  I'll  have  a  drink  wid  ye,  if  you'll  have 
one  with  me  next  time  we  meet,  but  there's  no  money 
goin'  to  pass  between  you  and  me." 

There  was  always  an  intimate  inflection  on  the  last 
word,  which  included  the  hearer  in  the  circle  of  Pat's 
particular  friends.  No  doubt  was  left  in  the  listener's 
mind  but  that  Pat  would  take  money  on  occasion, 
although  not  on  this  occasion — not  from  a  cherished  com- 
rade. There  was  nothing  of  the  holier-than-thou  in 
Patrick's  walk  or  conversation. 

The  hundredth  ward  could  scarcely  be  termed  a 
residential  district.  It  was  noisy  with  factories  of  all 
kinds,  and  inhabited  largely  by  working  people.  One 
or  two  of  its  streets  were  frankly  slums  of  the  lowest 
order;  others  were  closely  packed  with  evil-smelling 
tenements.  But  on  the  outskirts  of  the  district  there 
had  been  erected  recently  several  somewhat  pretentious 
apartment  houses,  and  in  the  upper  part  of  "  The  Kala- 
mazoo "  Patrick  Maguire  and  his  young  wife  resided. 
To  the  poorer  inhabitants  of  the  district  "  The  Kalama- 
zoo  "  seemed  a  palace ;  even  Lottie  herself  was  impressed 
with  its  magnificence,  and  wrote  long  letters  to  her  mother 
describing  its  many  conveniences.  But  Maguire  at  home 
or  abroad  was  equally  accessible  to  all  comers,  and  his 
flat  became  a  sort  of  unofficial  Mecca  for  numerous  pil- 
grims in  trouble.  The  cynical  would  say  that  this  was 
merely  the  sowing  of  a  crop  to  be  garnered  on  election 
day,  but  the  chances  are  that  Lottie's  own  estimate  was 
nearer  the  truth.  She  had  not  the  slightest  doubt  that 
it  was  all  owing  to  Patrick's  sympathetic  heart.  He 
hated  to  see  any  one  in  difficulties,  and  goodness  knows 
the  poor  of  that  great  city  had  difficulties  enough. 
Patrick  was  just  as  ready  to  aid  some  afflicted  old  woman 
with  no  vote,  whose  scapegrace  son  had  been  deservedly 
nabbed  by  the.  police,  as  he  was  to  obey  the  behest  of  the 
Mayor  of  New  York. 

"  That's  all  right,  mother.     Don't  you  fret.     The  boy 


"  They  are  so  linked  in  friendship  "     419 

won't  be  sent  to  the  island  this  trip.  Judge  Grady  is  a 
friend  of  mine,  and  a  decenter  man  than  John  Grady 
is  not  to  be  found  in  all  this  country.  I'll  drop  in  a  word 
for  the  boy.  An'  what's  his  name,  by-the-bye  ?  " 

He  would  make  it  a  point  to  be  at  the  police  court, 
hold  a  little  whispered  conference  with  the  judge,  and 
when,  to  the  scorn  and  scandal  of  the  law,  the  frightened 
lad  was  left  off  with  a  caution,  Maguire  would  say  a 
few  words  in  season  to  him  as  they  walked  up  the  street 
together. 

"  See  here,  ye  young  spalpeen,  it's  in  gaol  you'd  be  this 
day  if  your  poor  old  mother  hadn't  come  up  to  my  flat, 
weepin'  for  ye.  An'  it's  for  her  I  do  it,  not  for  you,  till 
ye  show  yourself  worth  that  much  trouble.  I  can  take  a 
drink  with  the  best  of  them,  either  because  I'm  dry  or 
because  I'm  in  good  company,  but  I  don't  make  a  beer 
vat  of  meself  and  go  howlin'  down  the  street  breakin' 
innocent  people's  heads  an'  other  folk's  windows.  Leave 
the  stuff  alone,  if  ye  can't  carry  it  decently  an'  as  a  man 
should.  Be  kind  to  your  old  mother.  Ye  can  pick  up 
plenty  o'  those  dirty  thieves  ye  were  with  Saturday  night, 
that  ran  away  an'  left  ye  when  ye  got  pinched,  but  ye'll 
never  have  but  one  mother  ;  see  that  ye  mind  that,  now, 
or  I'll  tell  the  cops  to  club  the  stupid  head  off  ye  next 
time  they  run  ye  in,  and  they'll  do  it,  too,  begobs." 

Maguire,  however,  did  not  have  everything  his  own 
way  in  political  circles.  It  was  one  peculiarity  of  the 
man  that  people  either  hated  him  or  loved  him.  There 
seemed  to  be  no  middle  ground  on  which  an  acquaint- 
ance of  Maguire's  could  stand.  Rafferty  and  his  gang 
cordially  detested  him,  and  the  chiefs  at  headquarters 
seemed  to  have  a  distrust  of  him.  He  had  been  taken 
into  the  association  largely  on  Judge  Grady's  represen- 
tations that  here  was  a  man  to  be  accounted  with,  but 
Grady  himself  stood  by  no  means  high  in  the  councils  of 
Tammany.  Boss  Bradley  favoured  him,  so  the  rest  tole- 
rated him,  but  he  was  not  of  their  kidney.  John  Grady 
was  a  university  graduate,  actually  in  possession  of  a 
degree,  and  he  was  a  stock  illustration  of  the  frequently 
stated  fact  that  an  educated  man  might  succeed  in  New 


42O  The  Victors 

York  politics.  Grady  was  supposed  to  be  incorruptible, 
so  far  as  money  went,  but  it  was  asserted  that  he  always 
obeyed  the  commands  of  the  Boss,  which  was  doubtless 
true  enough.  Grady  had  his  living  to  make  as  well  as 
the  rest  of  us,  and  a  police  court  judge,  impervious  to  all 
influence,  would  have  been  of  little  use  to  Tammany. 

More  than  once  Maguire  saw  that  Grady  was  uneasy 
about  him.  The  judge  had  a  strong  personal  liking  for 
this  energetic  young  man  from  the  West,  and  aside  from 
that  he  felt  the  responsibility  of  having  practically  forced 
him  upon  the  party.  During  the  first  few  years  of  Ma- 
guire's  occupancy  of  the  fire  escape  inspectorship  he  was 
not  interfered  with  to  any  great  extent.  The  salary 
attached  to  the  office  was  too  small  to  afford  any  tempta- 
tion to  those  with  "  pull  "  enough  to  have  ousted  him, 
replacing  him  with  one  of  themselves,  but  as  time  went 
on  it  became  whispered  that  there  was  more  in  this  berth 
than  appeared  to  the  eye.  Although  many  new  buildings 
were  being  erected,  few  of  them  were  decorated  with  fire 
escapes,  while  older  edifices  which  should  long  ago  have 
complied  with  the  law  had  not  done  so. 

Curiously  enough  those  good  citizens  who  endeavoured 
to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  statutes  made  and  pro^ 
vided  found  great  difficulty  and  incurred  much  expense 
in  striving  to  please  the  inspector,  who  seemed  extremely 
anxious  to  protect  life  and  limb  and  was  resolved  to  have 
appliances  that  were  practically  perfect;  an  object  not 
easy  to  attain  in  this  defective  world.  The  obstacles, 
however,  dissolved  after  a  personal  interview  with  Ma- 
guire, and  it  is  to  be  supposed  that  the  arguments  of 
owners  and  contractors  convinced  him  that  their  pre- 
cautions were  ample. 

"  I  wish/'  said  Judge  Grady  to  him  one  day,  "  that 
you  would  pay  more  attention  to  the  chiefs,  and  less  to 
those  no-account  people  in  the  slums." 

"  Now,  Grady,  that's  just  where  you're  away  off.  but 
I  suppose  it's  that  unfortunate  college  education  leads 
you  astray.  Thank  God,  I  never  saw  the  outside  of  a 
college,  let  alone  the  inside  ovvut.  What  puts  the  chiefs, 
as  ye  call  them,  where  they  are,  but  the  people  of  the 


"They  are  so  linked  in  friendship"     421 

slums,  as  ye  call  them.  Seems  to  me,  judge,  that  you've 
got  the  names  of  things  mixed;  it's  the  real  chiefs  I'm 
attendin'  to,  and  not  their  no-account  servants  at  the  City 
Hall.  I'm  a  great  believer  in  the  people,  John,  an'  I'm 
one  of  them  myself." 

"  Oh,  that's  all  right  enough.  We  all  believe  in  the 
people,"  replied  the  judge,  "  but  you  can't  get  at  the 
people  except  through  Tammany." 

"  I  did  it  before,"  said  the  inspector,  drily. 

"  Yes,  but  you  did  it  through  fr —  You  did  it  through 
a  fluke ;  you  can't  do  that  a  second  time." 

"  Ye  were  goin'  to  say  through  fraud,  John.  It's  all 
right;  don't  apologize.  I  see  ye  do  know  the  right 
names  of  some  things  in  spite  of  the  college.  Well,  to 
tell  the  truth,  John,  the  boys  at  headquarters  don't  think 
much  o'  me,  an'  I  think  just  as  little  o'  them.  You  told 
me  once  that  Tammany  requires  the  obedience  of  a 
soldier  and  the  work  of  a  dock-wholloper.  She  does. 
Very  well,  I  obey,  and  I  work.  Now  what  more  can 
they  ask  ?  " 

''  They  can  ask  your  office,  for  instance,  and  get  it,  too, 
Patrick,  my  boy.  I'm  warning  you  for  your  own  good. 
They're  muttering  a  bit  about  you.  You  see  you  hold 
an  office  by  appointment,  and  are  playing  the  game  of 
a  man  looking  to  be  elected,  and  that  strikes  me  as  not 
being  so  clear-headed  as  I  expected  of  you.  A  man 
holding  an  appointment  tries  to  please  the  people  who 
can  dismiss  him.  You  ignore  them." 

They  were  conversing  in  Maguire's  private  room, 
which  was  really  his  office,  in  the  "  Kalamazoo  "  flats. 
Maguire  leaned  back  in  his  chair  and  looked  across  the 
table  genially  at  his  friend,  thumbs  in  the  armholes  of 
his  vest. 

"  Grady,  what  do  you  know?  What  are  you  hinting 
at?" 

"  Well,  I  can  hardly  tell  you  what  I  know.  I  merely 
want  to  put  you  on  your  guard.  I've  had  some  points  in 
confidence  from  Bradley.  I  may  tell  you  that  if  it  hadn't 
been  for  him  you  were  out  of  your  office  long  ago.  He's 
an  honest  man  and  likes  to  keep  to  a  bargain  made ;  but 


422  The  Victors 

there  are  those  about  him  who  are  different — very 
different." 

"  Do  you  know  that  I've  been  ordered  to  run  for  alder- 
man again  in  the  district,  to  fill  the  vacancy  made  by 
giving  a  soft  snap  to  Schmittalheimer?  " 

"I  didn't  know  that,  but  I  knew  it  was  talked  of.  The 
truth  is,  I  don't  believe  Bradley  himself  is  aware  of  all 
that  is  going  on." 

"  Of  course  he  isn't.  That's  my  objection  to  Bradley. 
He's  an  honest  man,  as  you  say,  but  he's  just  got  no 
brains  at  all,  at  all.  Those  about  him  have  neither 
honesty  nor  brains,  and  so  they  make  better  politicians. 
But  when  they  meet  a  man  who's  got  both  brains  and 
honesty,  then  they  get  left,  d'ye  see — a  man  like  me,  for 
instance." 

"  Don't  be  too  sure  of  it,  Pat.  Go  and  see  Bradley 
and  the  rest.  Talk  sweet  to  them.  You  can  do  it  if 
you  try.  Get  them  to  withdraw  their  notice  to  you. 
Don't  refuse  to  run,  for  that's  what  they  expect.  That 
would  give  them  the  excuse  they  want  for  putting  your 
head  in  the  basket.  But  you  palaver  them,  and  get 
them  to  leave  you  alone.  Remind  Bradley  of  the  bargain 
he  made  in  my  rooms.  He'll  stick  by  you  if  he  can." 

"  It's  too  late,  me  boy.  I've  sent  word  that  I'll  do  as 
they  told  me.  I'm  going  to  run  for  alderman." 

'  Then,  Maguire,  they've  got  you.  Now  let  me  give 
you  a  point  or  two.  Don't  try  any  tricks.  You'll  be 
watched,  and  they'll  nab  you.  They'll  make  a  great 
outcry  about  honesty  from  the  inside — that's  always 
popular — and  they'll  railroad  you  into  State  Prison." 

"  Yes,  but  what  about  my  electioneering  this  last  year 
or  two,  that  you  were  complaining  of  a  while  since  ?  " 

"  It  won't  do  you  any  good,  Pat.  The  word  will  go 
quietly  out  that  you're  to  be  defeated.  A  republican 
alderman  more  or  less  don't  make  any  difference  to  them. 
You  will  have  Tammany  ostensibly  for  you,  but  actually 
against  you.  It's  no  use  fighting  Tammany,  Pat ;  it  has 
broken  bigger  men  than  you,  and  men  that  apparently 
had  the  city  behind  them.  There's  nothing  for  it  but  to 
go  to  the  chiefs  and  talk  them  over  if  you  can,  although 


"They  are  so  linked  in  friendship"     423 

that  will  not  be  easy  now.  Still  I  think  you  can  do  it  if 
you  put  your  mind  to  it.  Above  all,  keep  cool,  and  don't 
show  fight.  Don't  let  them  make  you  angry.  You  can't 
treat  Tammany  as  you  did  Rafferty." 

"  Grady,  you're  a  good  friend  of  mine,  and  I'll  not 
forget  it.  I'm  making  a  great  study  of  Tammany,  and 
I've  been  hard  at  it  for  years  now,  and,  I  tell  you,  John, 
it's  interesting.  Before  I  came  to  New  York  I  thought 
Tammany  was  a  unit.  Instead  of  that  I  find  it  full  of_ 
quarrels  and  bickerings  and  backbiting  and  plotting,  half 
of  them  ready  to  cut  the  throats  of  the  other  half.'' 

"  Don't  be  deluded  by  inside  ructions,  Maguire. 
They're  a  unit  when  the  enemy  is  at  the  gate,  and  that's 
enough  for  practical  purposes." 

"  It  isn't,  Grady,  as  I  think  I'll  show  these  boys  before 
I'm  through  with  them.  Now  I'll  tell  you  another  thing. 
I've  resigned  my  office  of  inspector.  I  sent  in  me  resign 
when  I  said  I'd  run  for  alderman,  as  is  but  right  and 
proper." 

Grady  gave  utterance  to  an  exclamation  of  dismay. 

"Why,  Pat,  how  did  you  come  to  do  that?  You've 
handed  over  all  they  were  plotting  for  before  the  fight 
began." 

"  They're  welcome  to  it." 

"  I  thought  you  were  doing  well.  You  live  here  in 
good  style,  and  I  know  that  can't  be  done  on  two  thou- 
sand a  year ;  they're  beginning  to  suspect  as  much  too." 

"  Let  them  suspect.  The  fight's  beginning,  as  you 
said.  Do  you  know  what  will  happen  if  they  beat  me 
inside  Tammany? — if  they  prove  me  I  can't  get  along 
with  this  lot  that's  running  the  town  ?  " 

"No.     What?" 

"  The  republicans  will  be  in  the  City  Hall  after  next 
election." 

It  was  now  Grady's  turn  to  sit  back  in  his  chair  and 
stare  across  the  table.  Presently  his  amazement  gave 
place  to  an  amused  smile. 

"  Well,  Pat,  I  think  much  of  you,  as  you  know,  but — 
excuse  my  asking,  are  you  going  to  put  the  republicans 
in,  or  are  you  just  making  an  election  guess?  " 


424  The  Victors 

"  Oh,  it's  like  this,"  said  Maguire  airily,  waving  his 
hand.  "  If  I  find  need  for  the  republicans  in  the  City 
Hall,  I'll  put  them  there.  It's  easier  done  than  trying  to 
unite  a  working,  fighting  force  within  our  own  party. 
When  Tammany  goes  to  pieces,  some  one  will  pick  up  the 
bits,  and  I'll  be  the  man.  I've  made  up  my  mind  that  an 
educated  gossoon  like  you  would  make  an  excellent 
mayor  of  New  York,  so  I'll  put  you  there." 
.  "  Thanks,"  assented  Grady,  with  a  laugh,  "  that  would 
suit  me  down  to  the  ground,  for  I  don't  mind  admitting 
to  you  that  I'm  ambitions.  But  I  hope  you  won't  try  it 
on  the  republican  ticket.  Seems  to  me  I'd  rather  take 
my  chances  with  the  other  crowd." 

"  That's  all  right.  Now,  John,  you've  been  a  good 
friend  to  me,  as  I've  often  said,  and  I'm  not  a  man  that 
forgets  one  kindness,  let  alone  a  hundred  of  them.  I'm 
going  to  talk  to  you  as  I'd  talk  to  no  man  living.  You 
said  you  thought  I  was  getting  on  well  with  the  inspec- 
torship. I  was." 

''  Then  why  did  you  resign  it?" 

"  Because  it  could  be  taken  from  me  at  any  moment, 
and  because  I  want  something  bigger.  I'm  ambitious, 
too." 

"  Still,  I  should  have  hung  onto  the  smaller  thing  until 
I  got  the  larger.'' 

"  Not  when  you've  squeezed  out  all  there's  in  it.  Let 
another  fellow  take  the  place  when  people  are  about 
ready  to  squeal.  Grady,  just  look  at  that  book." 

Maguire  had  unlocked  an  inner  drawer  and  taken  out 
a  bank-book.  He  slid  it  across  the  table  to  his  friend,  who 
looked  at  it  as  requested,  gave  a  whistle,  and  sent  it  back. 

"  More  than  thirty  thousand  dollars,  eh  ?  Well,  that's 
not  bad." 

"  No,  but  it's  the  smallest  amount  to  my  credit  in  one 
of  six  bank-books.  I  go  well  over  the  quarter  million, 
my  boy.  What  do  you  think  of  that?  You  see,  if  it 
costs  a  man  ten  thousand  dollars  to  put  up  fire  escapes 
in  a  big  block,  he  is  quite  willing  to  give  me  three  or  four 
thousand  to  be  let  alone.  But  he  won't  do  that  every 
year,  for  it  would*  be  cheaper  in  the  long  run  to  order  the 


"  They  are  so  linked  in  friendship  "     425 

iron  ladders.  That's  the  trouble  with  the  scheme.  We 
want  some  plan  that  will  give  us  these  payments  every 
year.  You  see  what  I'm  driving  at.  I  want  New 
York." 

"  You've  made  up  your  mind  to  be  Boss,  then  ?  " 

"I   have." 

"  I  don't  see  how  being  defeated  in  the  hundredth  pre- 
cinct is  going  to  help  you. ' 

"  Neither  do  I.  When  you  don't  know  what  to  do,  do 
the  regular  thing.  That's  what  I'm  doing.  Tammany 
says  '  run,'  and  J  say  '  Right  you  are,  me  hearties.'  I 
obey  orders.  No  fault  can  be  found  with  that.  If  they 
defeat  their  own  candidate,  then  they're  showing  a  bad 
example  that  may  turn  up  against  them  some  day,  and 
so  they  can't  complain  if  the  hoop  they  step  on  hits  them 
on  the  knee.  But  besides  all  that,  Grady,  I'm  just 
spoiling  for  a  fight  again.  I'm  longing  for  the  excite- 
ment of  an  election.  I've  been  piling  up  money  for  a 
while  now,  and  it's  but  a  quiet,  monotonous  business. 
I'm  just  lonesome  for  another  chance  of  appealing  to  the 
suffrages  of  my  fellow-citizens,  and  then  I  want  to  try 
an  experiment." 

''  That's  what  I  am  warn'ng  you  against,  Maguire. 
They're  going  to  watch  you.  I  have  that  pretty 
straight." 

"  I  want  to  try  a  new  trick  on  them." 

"  It's  dangerous.     What's  your  game  ?  " 

"  A  square,  honest  election.  If  that  doesn't  paralyse 
the  boys,  I'm  a  bigger  Dutchman  than  Jacob  Schmut- 
telheimer." 


CHAPTER    II 

"  FORTUNE    AND    VICTORY    SIT    ON     THY     HELM  " 

MAGUIRE'S  resignation  of  his  office  came  with  a  shock 
upon  the  sachems  of  Tammany.  The  incident  was  un- 
precedented. No  practical  politician  had  ever  given  up 
anything  he  held,  within  the  memory  of  man,  unless  he 
had  been  promised  something  better.  They  saw  they 
were  going  to  be  quit  of  this  interloper  in  easier  fashion 
than  had  been  anticipated.  An  humble  recruit  was  all 
right  enough  in  his  way  and  was  to  be  welcomed  at  any 
time,  but  a  young  fellow  who  had  unexpectedly  dropped 
from  the  clouds,  demanding  an  office  when  already  there 
were  not  enough  places  to  go  round  among  those  who 
had  earned  them,  was  unbearable.  The  inspectorship 
once  in  the  hands  of  a  redoubtable  worker  belonging  to 
the  fold,  they  would  give  secret  instructions  for  Ma- 
guire's  defeat  in  the  staunch  hundredth  ward,  and 
thus  be  rid,  once  for  all,  of  a  grasping  intruder.  Be- 
sides, an  underhand  deal  with  the  republican  party 
would  please  that  organisation,  give  it  something  to 
shout  about,  and  add  to  the  score  of  its  secret  indebted- 
ness to  Tammany,  an  obligation  to  be  repaid  a  thousand- 
fold when  a  general  election  was  on. 

Maguire  accepted  the  situation  with  equanimity.  His 
time  was  his  own  now,  and  he  spent  it  largely  with  his 
humble  friends  in  the  precinct,  anticipating  his  own  de- 
feat with  great  good-humour.  "  Yis ;  they're  goin'  to 
trow  me  down,  Mike.  They've  no  use  fur  the  loike  av 
me  at  aither  of  the  halls,  Tammany  or  the  city.  Av 
coorse,  it's  you  that'll  vote  for  me,  it's  well  I  know  thot, 
an'  it's  little  need  there  is  for  ye  to  tellut  to  me,  an' 
I've  many  a  good  friend  in  the  precinct  forby,  and 
these  divils'll  not  shove  me  under  so  deep  as  they 
think.  Ye  see,  I've  been  botherin'  them  too  much  for 
426 


11  Fortune  and  victory  sit  on  thy  helm  "  427 

me  frinds.  Yis;  you're  roite,  Mike;  Oi  did  trow  in  a 
word  fur  ye,  an'  good  it  is  ov  ye  to  remember  it  at  this 
toime,  an'  glad  I  am  that  ye  got  the  job,  although  a  poor 
enough  wan  it  was,  an'  it's  a  better  wan  ye'll  get  if  ever 
Oi've  the  chanct  to  give  it  to  ye.  Ah,  well,  Mike,  it's  all 
in  the  day's  work.  It'll  make  no  differ  a  hoondred  years 
from  now." 

Maguire's  brogue  deepened  and  broadened  in  ratio 
with  the  accent  of  his  listener.  This  change  of  dialect 
seemed  to  be  automatic  with  him.  He  talked  to  Grady 
almost  as  correctly  as  if  he  had  had  that  college  education 
which  he  affected  sometimes  to  despise  and  on  other  oc- 
casions to  envy.  He  spent  no  money ;  he  engaged  no 
workers ;  he  called  no  meetings ;  he  made  no  speeches. 
His  was  the  attitude  of  an  already  defeated  candidate, 
but  one  who  took  his  overthrow  with  philosophy  and 
great  good-nature,  thanking  God  he  still  had  his  friends, 
and  as  long  as  they  were  left  him  he  had  nothing  to  com- 
plain of.  The  united  opposition  were  lulled  into  a  dan- 
gerous sense  of  security  by  the  seeming  inaction  of  the 
victim.  They  were  watching  for  tricks  which  were  not 
to  be  played  on  this  occasion,  and  so  time,  opportunity 
and  effort  were  wasted.  Still  it  is  doubtful  if  they  could 
have  defeated  the  popular  Maguire  by  any  combination 
they  might  have  made,  or  any  candidate  they  could  have 
secured,  much  less  with  a  silk-stockinged  potentate  from 
the  richer  portion  of  the  city. 

On  election  day  Maguire  took  no  chances ;  he  worked 
like  a  newspaper  man  with  a  big  late  fire  on  his  hands, 
and  the  particulars  of  the  various  insurances  to  be  got  be- 
fore the  forms  were  closed.  Pat  was  everywhere,  al- 
ways with  a  joke  on  his  lips  and  a  good  word  to  say  even 
to  those  officials  at  the  polling  booths  who  were  secretly 
against  h'm.  The  republicans  were  anxious  about  this 
contest  because  state  and  presidential  elections  were 
drawing  near,  and  if  they  could  seat  the'r  man  from  a 
district  so  admittedly  democratic,  the  general  effect  would 
be  good.  The  Tammany  chiefs  cared  little  for  the  com- 
ing state  election  and  nothing  at  all  for  the  presidential. 
They  \vere  too  secure  of  their  position  in  the  metropolis 


428  The  Victors 

to  worry  about  one  precinct  going  nominally  against 
them. 

When  the  returns  came  in,  the  republican  candidate 
must  have  wondered  why  he  had  been  running.  Ma- 
guire had  simply  mopped  the  district  with  him,  as  the 
phrase  went.  Even  the  normal  weakness  of  the  repub- 
lican vote  in  that  district  was  a  Goliath  of  suffrage  com- 
pared with  the  puny  total  Maguire's  opponent  had  re- 
ceived. There  had  been  a  snow-under,  indeed,  but  it  was 
the  republican  who  was  beneath  the  drifts. 

For  the  next  few  days  Maguire  was  a  centre  of  inter- 
est for  the  newspapers.  Reporters  crowded  his  flat,  and 
he  was  hail-fellow-well-met  with  every  one  of  them. 
Object  to  be  interviewed?  Certainly  not.  He  was  a 
poor  man ;  had  spent  no  money ;  had  no  money  to  spend ; 
but  there  was  one  thing  he  did  have,  and  that  was  an  un- 
limited faith  in  the  people  and  in  honesty.  Be  honest 
and  put  your  trust  in  the  people,  and  you  are  all  right. 
The  republicans  may  have  had  money ;  they  usually  had ; 
he  knew  nothing  about  it  in  this  case ;  he  hoped  the  elec- 
tion had  been  as  square  on  the  other  side,  as  it  certainly 
was  on  his ;  but  money  was  not  all  it  was  cracked  up  to 
be.  He  believed  the  mass  of  voters  were  incorruptible, 
and  he  thought  he  had  done  something  to  prove  that  con- 
tention. Then  finally  there  was  another  thing  he  wished 
to  say : 

There  was  a  faint  rumour  floating  about  that  a  deal 
had  been  arranged  between  Tammany  and  the  republi- 
can party.  The  returns  ought  to  show  how  groundless 
that  libel  had  been.  Tammany  was  not  treacherous. 
He  had  had  the  hearty  undivided  support  of  Tammany, 
as  the  result  showed.  He  had  the  honour  of  knowing 
personally  the  chiefs  of  that  much  maligned  society,  and 
they  were  to  a  man  true  to  democratic  principles  and  the 
democratic  candidate. 

This  was  pleasant  reading  for  the  official  republicans, 
who  knew  there  had  been  a  deal,  and  already  were  more 
than  suspicious  that  they  had  been  betrayed.  It  was  also 
pleasant  reading  for  the  officials  of  Tammany  Hall,  who 
dare  not  publicly  deny  the  eulogies  Maguire  pronounced 


"  Fortune  and  victory  sit  on  thy  helm  "  429 

upon  them,  and  whose  private  assurances  to  the  chiefs  of 
the  republican  party  were  greeted  with  incredulous  scorn. 
Maguire  received  a  peremptory  command  from  head- 
quarters to  keep  his  mouth  shut  when  reporters  were 
about,  and  he  cheerfully  obeyed,  but  the  mischief  was  al- 
ready done;  the  always  latent  distrust  of  Tammany's 
good  faith  had  been  aroused  to  full  activity,  which  was 
very  inconvenient  with  a  big  election  at  hand  and  jm- 
portant  bargains  to  be  made  with  suspicious  opponents. 

It  was  in  John  Grady's  flat  that  the  first  meeting  of  the 
two  friends  after  the  contest  took  place.  Maguire's  un- 
expected return  had  been  a  technical  triumph  for  Grady ; 
he  had  warned  the  chiefs  to  conciliate  this  man  and  give 
him  a  chance.  He  had  beseeched  them  to  be  fair  with 
him.  They  had  ignored  both  warning  and  supplication. 
Now  Maguire,  ostentatiously  bowing  to  their  commands, 
had  actually  defeated  them  single-handed  in  a  strong 
citadel  of  their  own  selection.  He  had  placed  them  in  a 
situation  where  they  could  only  squirm ;  where  they  dare 
not  complain  aloud  even  to  their  own  friends. 

"  Well,  Pat,  you're  a  great  man,"  cried  Grady  as  the 
other  came  in. 

"  I  told  you  I'd  learn  them  boys  something  about  elec- 
tions," said  Maguire  complacently  as  he  flung  himself 
down  in  an  easy  chair. 

"What's  the  next  move,  Pat?  Are  you  going  to 
march  on  the  City  Hall  with  your  cohorts  and  demand 
recognition  ?  " 

"  Divil  a  march  and  divil  a  recog.  That  gang's  no 
good,  John.  There's  nothing  to  be  got  from  them,  not 
even  horse-sense.  They've  just  gumption  enough  to 
hang  on  to  their  places,  but  not  the  horse-sense  to  get  in 
out  of  the  rain  when  they  see  a  storm  coming,  as  the  old 
woman  said.  John,  I'm  going  to  turn  the  rascals  out. 
Are  you  with  me?  " 

"  You  mean  you're  going  to  turn  republican  ?  " 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it.  Are  you  with  me  ?  That's  the  ques- 
tion. I'm  in  for  the  biggest  throw  of  the  game.  The 
republicans  will  own  New  York  for  the  next  four  years, 
an'  it  will  be  fun  to  watch  them.  They  won't  know  in 
the  least  what  to  do  with  it." 


43Q  The  Victors 

"  That's  a  large  contract.  Magu:re.  How  are  you  go- 
ing 'to  work  it  ?  " 

"  Oh,  it's  easy.  But  answer  my  question.  Are  you 
with  me  ?  " 

"  Yes.  Of  course  I'd  like  to  know  what  you're  going 
to  do,  or  rather  what  you  think  you're  going  to  do." 

"  Think  nothing.  I  tell  you  what  it  is,  Grady,  you've 
got^  shaky  on  me  this  while  back.'' 

"  You  got  shaky  on  yourself,  apparently.  You've  been 
moping  round  saying  you  were  a  lost  man.  I  gave  you 
the  best  advice  I  could,  and  stood  up  for  you  with  the 
Boss.  I  did  what  I  could  for  you  always.  I  knew  there 
was  a  dead  set  against  you  at  headquarters,  and  had  been 
for  years,  and  I  saw  that  you  seemed  discouraged  your- 
self, so  what  was  a  man  to  think?  They'd  have  broken 
you  long  ago  if  it  wasn't  for  the  Boss,  and  he  backed  you 
up  in  a  half-hearted  way,  largely  on  my  account.  You've 
won  a  trick  in  the  game,  Pat,  but  if  you  imagine  you  are 
out  of  the  woods  yet  you're  mistaken.  Tammany  never 
forgives  and  never  forgets.  Now,  honestly,  Pat,  did  you 
think  yourself  you  were  going  to  be  elected,  or  was  the 
result  as  much  a  surprise  to  you  as  to  the  rest  of  us  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  thought  I  was  going  to  be  elected,  but  I 
wasn't  sure  of  it.  It  was  an  experiment,  as  I  told  you 
before.  If  the  average  man  was  true  to  his  word  I  was 
elected ;  if  he  was  a  liar,  I  was  defeated.  That  was  the 
point  I  wanted  to  settle.  I  cared  nothing  for  the  alder- 
manship,  one  way  or  other,  beyond  that.  John,  I  talk 
to  you  as  I  talk  to  no  one  else,  and  I'll  tell  you  now  that 
I've  had  four  objects  in  life  since  I  settled  down  in  New 
York.  The  first  is  to  be  as  good  a  husband  to  my  wife 
as  the  Lord  will  allow  me.  She's  the  finest  woman  on 
earth,  John,  as  you  know,  and  I'm  not  fit  to  tie  her  shoes. 
I'm  an  honest  man,  but  she  goes  far  beyond  me  in 
honesty ;  indeed  she  has  queer,  unworkable  notions  on  the 
subject ;  I  had  a  little  tiff  with  her  on  that  before  we 
were  married,  and  it  learnt  me  a  lesson.  By  a  merciful 
dispensation  of  Providence  a  woman  is  no  good  at  fig- 
ures. She  knows  my  salary  has  been  two  thousand  a 
year;  it  seemed  immense  to  her  when  she  first  heard  it. 


"  Fortune  and  victory  sit  on  thy  helm"  431 

Well,  she's  been  spending  five  thousand  a  year  right 
along,  and  it's  never  struck  her  how  all  that  comes  out  of 
the  two  thousand,  God  bless  her,  and  I  hope  it  never 
will,  although  I've  been  worrying  myself  for  one  explana- 
tion after  another,  if  the  matter  should  happen  to  crop 
up.  I  was  troubled  a  good  deal  about  it  at  first,  but 
when  the  boy  and  the  girl  came  along,  one  after  the  Other, 
her  attention  has  been  entirely  taken  up  with  the  kids, 
and  she  has  less  thought  of  paper  and  pencil  than  ever 
she  had.  So  my  mind's  easier  on  that  score.  My  second 
object  has  been  to  get  enough  money  scraped  together 
that  I  could  stand  a  few  years  of  idleness,  without  me  or 
my  family  being  put  to  any  inconvenience,  and,  as  I 
showed  you,  that  is  accomplished.  The  third  point  was 
the  study  of  Tammany  from  the  inside.  I'm  convinced 
that  Tammany  can  be  defeated  right  along  at  every  elec- 
tion, if  the  other  party  has  the  sense  to  go  about  the  busi- 
ness in  the  right  way.  If  Tammany  only  knew  it,  she 
needs  me  worse  than  I  need  her." 

"  You've  got  a  good  opinion  of  yourself,  Patrick." 

"  I  have.  It's  necessary  in  this  world  if  you  want  to 
get  along.  The  fourth  clause  is  a  study  of  the  people. 
Can  they  be  depended  on?  I  think  they  can.  I've  been 
elected  in  what  the  righteous  would  call  the  most  corrupt 
district  in  New  York  entirely  on  my  shape.  I've  spent 
no  money  except  for  a  little  beer  on  a  dry  day,  and  I've 
beaten  the  secret  opposition  of  the  most  powerful  organ- 
isation in  the  state,  and  the  open  opposition  of  the  second 
strongest.  Am  I  speaking  the  truth  ?  " 

"  You  are,  Pat.  Well,  what  do  you  make  of  it  all  ? 
Do  you  think  organisation  is  no  good  ?  " 

"  Organisation  is  pretty  nearly  everything,  but  not 
quite.  There  are  other  ingredients,  just  as  in  the  com- 
pounding of  mixed  drinks.  If  you  leave  one  or  two  ele- 
ments out  of  a  cocktail  you  make  a  disgusting  mixture 
instead  of  a  delight  to  the  palate." 

"  Come  to  the  point,  Maguire.  Are  you  going  to  fight 
Tammany?  " 

"  I  am  not." 

"  I  thought  you  proposed  to  put  in  the  republicans  a 
while  since." 


432  The  Victors 

"I  do." 

"  Oh,  I  give  it  up.     What's  the  answer?  " 

"  Are  ye  convinced  that  they're  no  good  down  at  the 
City  Hall,  that  lot  ?  " 

"  They're  in  power  all  the  same." 

"  They  are.  I  have  waited  two  or  three  days  to  see 
what  they  would  do.  They  sent  me  one  message.  Do 
ye  know  what  it  was.?  It  wras  to  the  effect  that  Alder- 
man Patrick  Maguire  was  to  hold  his  yawp.  He  wasn't 
to  talk  any  more  to  them  villainous  reporters.  And  Pat 
answers  humbly  that  he'll  do  what  he's  told.  Now  the 
reporters  are  a  very  decent  lot  of  hard-working  men, 
and  I  like  them.  They  come  in  handy  when  useful 
misinformation  is  to  be  disseminated  among  a  discrimi- 
nating public.  Now  do  you  know  what  I'd  have  done 
if  I  was  Bradley?  The  minute  the  returns  were  in  and 
I  saw  how  badly  I  got  left,  I'd  a-shook  the  mugs  that  led 
me  into  the  trap,  and  I'd  a-come  direct  to  Pat  Maguire, 
and  I'd  a-slung  one  arm  over  his  shouder.  '  Pat,  me 
boy,'  I'd  say,  '  you're  a  daisy.  I've  tried  to  trip  ye  up,' 
I'd  say,  '  and  I've  planted  me  foot  on  me  own  nose,  an' 
the  swellin's  painful,'  I'd  say.  '  After  this,  Patrick 
acoushla,  we'll  try  no  more  tricks  on  each  other,  for 
there's  plenty  of  the  enemy  to  experiment  on.  An'  so, 
Patrick,  me  honey,  come  down  with  me  to  the  City  Hall ; 
I've  a  nice  little  assortment  of  offices  all  laid  out  in  a  row, 
pretty  an'  regular  like,  an'  ye'll  take  yer  pick  of  the  wan 
that  best  suits  yer  sedenthry  habits,'  I'd  say.  But  in- 
stead of  that  there  comes  an  order,  '  Yer  talkin'  through 
yer  hat ;  put  yer  hat  on  yer  head,  ye  fool,  an'  snap  a  pad- 
lock on  your  lips.'  There's  no  hope  for  you  or  me  in  that 
crowd,  Grady.  They  haven't  sense  enough  to  pound 
sand.  We've  got  to  turn  them  out." 

"  Agreed ;  but  how  ?  If  you're  not  going  to  fight 
them,  what's  your  plan?'' 

"  John,  I  couldn't  do  this  thing  alone.  I  need  the  help 
of  one  man,  and  that  man  is  you.  You  are  a  member  of 
the  University  Club,  an'  this  club  an'  that  club  that 
wouldn't  look  at  a  gossoon  like  me.  In  other  words, 
judge,  you  are  in  with  the  silk-stockinged  brigade." 


"  Fortune  and  victory  sit  on  thy  helm  "  433 

"  Oh,  you  want  me  to  turn  against  Tammany  ?  " 
"  Nothing  of  the  sort.  These  club  jays  must  look  on 
you  as  a  lost  sheep,  and  wonder  why  you  soil  your  fingers 
with  our  kind  of  politics.  They're  awfully  careful  of 
their  fingers,  those  fellows.  That's  why  they'll  never 
shake  hands  with  a  working-man  except  at  election  time. 
Verv  well.  The  talk  is  all  of  politics  in  the  clubs  just 
now,  I'm  told,  because  the  papers  are  howling  about 
'  reform.'  It's  a  lovely  theme,  and  a  good  writer  can 
work  himself  up  on  it  till  you'd  think  he  was  angry  about 
something.  Now  you  sit  round  in  the  club,  nod  your 
head  and  look  wise  and  smile  mysteriously  now  and  then, 
and  drop  a  hint  casually  that  if  they  only  knew  how 
easy  it  was  done  they'd  quit  talking  and  do  something. 
Then  they'll  ask  your  own  question,  '  How  is  it  to  be 
done  ?  '  Don't  bite  too  readily.  You  tackle  the  repub- 
licans first.  Get  them  to  give  you  a  list  of  the  men 
they'll  support  at  the  head  of  the  ticket,  and  tell  them  if 
they  include  two  or  three  honest  democrats,  as  they'll 
call  them,  it  won't  do  no  harm.  Get  another  list  from 
the  county  democrats  and  find  out  specially  what  decent 
republicans  they'll  support.  The  same  from  the  German 
reform  society,  and  every  one  of  the  other  anti-Tammany 
leagues.  All  right.  There'll  be  one  or  two,  perhaps 
three,  names  common  to  all  the  lists.  Try  to  get  them  to 
unite  on  the  best  man.  They  won't.  He'll  be  touchy 
and  will  withdraw.  There's  not  one  of  them  wouldn't 
throw  down  the  game  if  you  don't  come  to  him  with  the 
nomination  in  one  hand  and  yer  hat  in  the  other.  They'll 
all  serve  their  country,  but  don't  ask  them  to  recognise 
a  poor  man  on  the  shtreet  between  polling  times.  This  is 
where  delicate  handling  will  be  needed.  There  will  be  a 
hitch  with  the  first  man  and  the  second,  but  very  likely 
they  may  unite  on  the  third.  It's  my  hope  he'll  be  some 
reform  crank  that'll  enforce  the  laws  and  develop  into 
the  most  unpopular  man  in  the  state  four  years  from 
now,  but  any  mugwump  with  good  intentions  will  do. 
There's  nothing  like  an  upright,  conscientious  citizen, 
strong  on  reform  and  pure  government,  for  turning  the 
election  over  to  the  other  party  next  innings.  Will  you 
doit,  Grady?" 
28 


434  The  Victors 

"  I'll  try  my  best,  but  I  think  you  are  the  man  for  the 
job.  Wouldn't  it  be  better  for  me  to  arrange  a  meeting 
between  you  and  these  persons  ?  I  could  accomplish  that 
without  any  trouble." 

"  No,  no.  I  could  make  no  headway  with  them.  I 
don't  talk  their  lingo." 

"  There's  nothing  wrong  with  your  lingo  as  far  as  I 
can  discover,  and  you  have  a  most  persuasive  tongue, 
Patrick."  . 

"  That's  all  right,  John,  but  I  know  my  failings,  and 
that's  where  I  have  the  advantage  over  Tammany.  You 
do  as  I  tell  you,  and  keep  me  posted,  while  I  stay  in  the 
background.  This  newspaper  demand  for  reform  will 
help  things  on  a  bit,  an'  begobs  we'll  give  'em  reform 
till  they're  sick  of  the  dose." 

After  much  negotiation  and  various  narrow  escapes 
from  shipwreck  the  numerous  reform  parties  united  and 
presented  a  solid  front  to  their  confident  opponents.  One 
stormy  November  day  the  country  and  the  world  beyond 
knew  that  Tammany  had  been  crushed  finally  and  for 
ever.  It  was  a  clean  sweep ;  a  famous  victory.  Much 
oratory  was  spent  over  it.  The  result  showed  that  the 
great  heart  of  New  York  was  all  right  if  you  made  the 
correct  appeal  to  it.  The  newspapers  justly  prided  them- 
selves on  their  influence  in  bringing  about  so  desirable 
an  occurrence.  New  York  was  purged  of  her  bad  gov- 
ernment and  could  now  hold  up  her  head  proudly  among 
the  great  cities  of  the  world.  Civilisation  was  not  a  fail- 
ure and  the  Caucasian  was  not  played  out. 

Inside  Tammany  Hall  there  was  bitterness  and  vexa- 
tion of  spirit.  Each  faction  blamed  the  other  and  all  the 
others.  The  leaders  were  unanimous  on  one  course  of 
action  only,  and  that  was  the  emphatic  cursing  of  the 
Boss.  Bradley  washed  his  hands  of  the  whole  turmoil 
and  retired  to  his  farm  in  northern  New  York,  where  his 
frugal  savings  insured  him  a  life  of  ease  and  freedom 
from  worry,  leaving  the  Kilkenny  cats  to  fight  it  out 
among  themselves. 

Was  there  a  man  undismayed?  Yes,  there  was  one. 
Patrick  Maguire  was  true  to  his  party  throughout,  and 


"  Fortune  and  victory  sit  on  thy  helm  "  435 

he  went  down  with  the  rest  in  the  disaster  that  had  over- 
whelmed it.  His  advice  had  been  ignored  and  his  warn- 
ings unheeded,  and  if  ever  there  was  a  person  who  was 
justified  in  saying  "  I  told  you  so,''  Patrick  Maguire  was 
that  man.  But  he  made  no  use  of  his  opportunity.  He 
talked  in  most  friendly  fashion  with  each  of  the  leaders, 
who  now  were  glad  to  have  any  one  speak  to  them  civ- 
illy when  they  had  nothing  to  give  away  and  were  them- 
selves bereft.  It  was  a  pleasure  and  also  a  rare  event  to 
meet  a  Tammany  man  who  was  not  swearing.  Maguire 
persuaded  each  patriot  that  if  that  patriot's  advice  had 
been  followed  things  would  have  turned  out  differently. 
He  was  a  mixture  of  soothing  sirup  and  consolation, 
without  a  trace  of  malice  in  the  draught.  The  leaders  saw 
that  they  had  been  entirely  mistaken  in  the  young  man 
and  unjustly  suspicious  of  him.  In  time  of  trouble  kind 
words  are  more  than  coronets,  and  Maguire's  well-pro- 
portioned flattery  comforted  many  an  aching  heart. 

"  We  treated  ye  durty,  that's  what  we  did.  We  turned 
ye  down,  or  tried  to,  an'  it's  ashamed  I  am  ov  me  own 
share  in  it,  on  a  day  whin  there's  few  to  give  me  the  glad 
hand  as  you've  done.  An'  I'll  not  forget  it,  aither." 

But  Pat  would  have  no  one  blame  himself.  It  was  all 
right,  he  said  cheerfully,  and  he  was  sure  the  speaker 
had  very  little  to  do  with  it,  which  the  speaker  would 
somewhat  shamefacedly  admit.  It  was  all  Bradley's 
doing. 

In  the  moment  of  gloom  following  the  election  any  one 
could  have  bought  Tammany  for  thirty  cents,  a  sum  fre- 
quently mentioned  by  its  adherents  as  bearing  a  marked 
resemblance  to  it.  Maguire  happened  to  have  a  quarter 
and  a  nickel  in  his  trousers  pocket  at  the  time.  Dur- 
ing the  immediate  exasperation  of  a  crushing  defeat  few 
people  have  the  faculty  of  fixing  their  attention  on  some 
object  four  years  ahead.  Later  on,  when  the  future 
loomed  up  more  distinctly  in  the  distance  and  the  body- 
guard of  the  Tammany  Tiger  found  that  the  animal  was 
not  so  badly  injured  in  the  collision  as  had  been  generally 
supposed,  they  made  an  attempt  to  get  into  their  old  po- 
sitions by  its  side. 


436  The  Victors 

Then  they  found  that  the  genial  Maguire  had  got  a 
firm  grip  on  the  collar  of  the  brute,  and  the  great  cat 
snarled  dangerously  if  any  one  attempted  to  interfere 
with  its  keeper.  And  this  was  but  natural  enough.  It 
was  Maguire  who  had  bound  up  the  lacerated  limbs  and 
applied  the  healing  lotion.  When  others  had  but  kicks 
to  bestow,  his  soothing  hand  smoothed  the  ruffled  fur. 
He  had  been  the  first  to  declare  that  the  accident  was  not 
fatal ;  that  there  was  life  in  the  old  beast  yet.  Without 
opposition  Maguire  had  somehow  fitted  himself  into  the 
place  left  vacant  by  the  desertion  of  Bradley,  and  even 
when  the  post  began  to  acquire  renewed  value  there  was 
no  strenuous  opposition  to  his  occupancy,  for  sweet  as 
nectar  flowed  the  milk  and  honey  of  his  promises. 
Every  one  knew  him  to  be  a  yielding,  pliant  man,  ever 
ready  to  do  the  bidding  of  the  humblest ;  the  one  person 
in  the  organisation  who  had  never  rebelled ;  so  there  was 
no  fear  but  that  he  might  easily  be  ousted  if  it  seemed 
desirable  to  put  another  in  his  stead.  And  so  Maguire's 
grip  on  the  collar  became  firmer  and  firmer.  He  spent 
all  his  time  perfecting  the  organisation,  keeping  the 
older  hands  gently  in  the  back  seats,  a  task  easier  of  ac- 
complishment because  there  was  little  inducement  for 
hard  work,  with  no  pay-day  coming  round.  Why  waste 
energy  with  no  spoils  in  the  foreground?  Gradually  but 
effectually  he  placed  the  young  and  enthusiastic  in  the 
vanguard,  willing  fighters  who  owed  their  positions  en- 
tirely to  him. 

Meanwhile  the  Reform  government  had  been  doing 
famously.  It  enforced  the  laws  without  fear  or  favour, 
to  the  amazement  of  citizens,  who  had  looked  on  various 
enactments  as  mere  vote-catching  caprices  of  former 
state  legislatures,  long  since  forgotten ;  enactments  never 
meant  for  any  practical  purpose,  and  the  shoe  pinched 
multitudes  of  very  estimable  people.  The  City  Hall  was 
pure,  and  taxation  slightly  on  the  upward  grade.  The 
voters  had  intended  the  laws  to  be  honestly  applied,  of 
course,  but  not  against  themselves.  It  was  the  other  fel- 
low they  had  been  thinking  of  when  they  dropped  their 
tickets  into  the  ballot  box.  The  New  York  Evening 


"  Fortune  and  victory  sit  on  thy  helm  "  437 

Post  showed  by  indisputable  logic  that  the  Reformers  had 
redeemed  their  pledges  and  deserved  well  of  the  electo- 
rate, but  the  saloonkeeper  on  the  corner  took  in  a 
cheaper  paper  and  so  missed  this  excellent  reasoning. 

When  the  four  years  elapsed,  Tammany  was  rein- 
stated by  an  overwhelming  majority,  ex-Judge  Grady 
was  mayor  of  the  city,  and  Patrick  Maguire,  holding  no 
office  either  elective  or  nominative,  was  undisputed  Boss 
of  New  York,  as  powerful  as  the  czar  within  his  own 
dominions,  and  as  popular  as  Victoria  was  within  hers. 


CHAPTER    II  I 

"  FIRE    THAT    SEVERS    DAY    FROM     NIGHT " 

IT  is  well  that  Psyche  is  not  the  patron  of  married 
women ;  the  hot  candle  grease  of  too  intimate  curiosity 
might  cause  marital  happiness  to  evaporate  as  does  a  fluff 
of  gun-cotton  under  the  torch  of  incandescent  iron. 
Where  ignorance  is  bliss,  why  experiment  with  the  re- 
mainder of  the  phrase? 

Mrs.  Charlotte  Maguire  was  not  of  an  inquiring  na- 
ture ;  she  took  the  goods  the  gods  sent  her  without  ques- 
tion, and  consequently  was  happy.  Patrick  proved  a 
model  husband,  naturally  of  an  affectionate  disposition, 
with  a  firm  belief  that  all  women  were  innately  better 
than  all  men.  He  devoted  himself  to  his  wife  with  the 
same  ardour  that  he  devoted  himself  to  public  affairs,  and 
was  therefore  a  success  both  as  a  husband  and  a  poli- 
tician. He  knew  that  his  wife  was  infinitely  his  superior 
in  religious  feeling  and  in  moral  principle, and  he  admired 
these  qualities  in  her,  which  he  would  have  considered  of 
no  use  to  himself  in  the  everyday  work  of  the  world,  as 
valueless  as  a  pretty  Japanese  umbrella  in  a  thunder- 
storm, as  a  silk  gown  in  a  blizzard.  But,  nevertheless, 
he  protected  her  from  all  knowledge  of  his  actions  outside 
their  flat.  If  a  newspaper  called  him  a  thief  he  took  care 
that  the  journal  did  not  penetrate  into  his  home.  He 
saw  to  it  that  her  friends  were  selected  from  classes  little 
conversant  with  politics,  and  unlikely  to  disturb  his  wife's 
overwhelming  belief  in  him.  It  must  not  be  imagined 
that  Maguire  supposed  himself  engaged  in  anything  ne- 
farious. Far  otherwise.  He  seemed  to  believe  himself 
an  honest  man,  and  frequently  intimated  as  much.  In 
their  early  days  his  practical  views  had  come  into  colli- 
sion with  her  morbid  conscientiousness,  and  he  found  it 

438 


"  Fire  that  severs  day  from  night "     439 

impossible  to  make  any  headway  against  her  Utopian 
fancies. 

Even  then  he  had  not  tried  for  long  to  convert  her  to 
his  own  way  of  thinking,  but  had  taken  the  line  of  the 
least  resistance ;  had  pretended  to  be  a  proselyte  of  hers, 
yet  without  depriving  himself  of  the  substantial  benefits 
accruing  from  his  own  mode  of  action ;  he  had  accom- 
plished the  feat  of  having  his  cake  and  eating  it  as 
well.  As  a  person  living  in  the  infected  atmosphere  of 
the  city  might  regard  an  ethereal  being  habituated  to  the 
pure  thin  microbelecs  air  of  the  mountain  top,  so  Ma- 
guire  regarded  his  wife ;  the  medium  she  breathed  was 
all  very  well  for  her,  but  it  gave  him  palpitation  of  the 
heart  and  an  overworking  of  the  lungs.  He  knew  that 
his  arguments  were  most  logical,  but  experience  had 
taught  him  that  they  would  not  have  been  held  valid  by 
her,  just  as  a  borrower's  note  may  be  good,  and  yet  is  re- 
fused as  collateral  by  a  bank.  So  being  a  man  who  loved 
an  easy  frictionless  life,  who  wanted  to  see  all  about  him 
contented  and  happy,  he  took  pains  to  render  impossible 
an  encounter — a  conflict  of  opinion — the  outcome  of 
which  was  by  no  means  certain. 

Sometimes  the  more  cynical  Grady  aroused  him  to  elo- 
quent anger  by  touching  sarcastically  on  the  methods 
that  were  enriching  them  both.  A  university  education, 
Maguire  frequently  remarked,  had  tainted  the  virgin 
purity  of  Grady's  native  innocence.  Grady  had  no  de- 
lusions. He  took  the  easy  path  to  wealth  because,  like  the 
proprietor  of  the  shanty  restaurant  out  West  who  charged 
five  dollars  for  a  ham  sandwich,  he  needed  the  money, 
but  he  never  tried  to  convince  himself  that  he  was  a 
George  Washington,  although  he  loved  to  goad  Maguire 
into  a  defence  of  the  late  William  M.  Tweed.  However, 
the  Boss  cared  little  what  any  one  said  to  him,  if  it  were 
not  said  in  the  presence  of  his  wife. 

Lottie,  from  the  first,  took  a  keen  delight  in  the 
pageantry  of  New  York,  and  her  husband  was  rarely  too 
busy  to  be  her  attendant.  A  box  at  any  theatre  was  his 
for  the  asking,  and  as  he  experienced  a  boyish  joy  in  the 
performances,  the  two  were  frequent  patrons  of  the 


440  The  Victors 

drama.  The  history  of  their  domestic  felicity  would 
have  been  a  most  commonplace  recital  were  it  not  for  a 
disaster  that  came  upon  them  with  an  unexpected  sud- 
denness, as  if  implacable  Providence  had  determined  to 
show  how  futile  are  the  triumphs  of  man. 

They  were  returning  home  from  the  theatre  together 
one  winter  night,  some  three  months  after  Maguire's 
great  victory  had  placed  him  at  the  head  of  the  city,  when 
a  fire  engine  dashed  up  the  thoroughfare  past  them,  leav- 
ing a  trail  of  smoke  and  sparks  behind  it,  vibrating  the 
air  with  the  harsh  metallic  clang  of  its  gong.  The  sight 
was  too  common  to  attract  attention,  night  or  day,  but 
Maguire,  always  interested  in  the  department,  asked  a 
policeman  where  the  fire  was. 

"  I  dtinno,  sir,"  answered  the  officer  respectfully,  rec- 
ognising his  questioner ;  "  but  it  must  be  serious,  for  that 
engine's  answering  the  second  call." 

They  walked  on  still  unsuspecting  until  the  nearer  they 
approached  to  their  own  street  the  more  evident  it  be- 
came that  the  conflagration  was  in  their  neighbourhood. 

"  O,  Patsey ! "  cried  his  wife,  clutching  his  arm 
tightly,  "  what  if  it  should  be  our — '' 

"  Nonsense,  nonsense,  Lottie.  The  building's  fire- 
proof, and  there's  all  New  York  to  burn  besides  it." 

But  he  unconsciously  quickened  his  pace.  At  the 
street  corner,  turning  into  a  canyon  of  red  light,  a  police- 
man, seemingly  on  the  watch,  stepped  in  front  of  the 
woman  and  addressed  the  man. 

"  Mr.  Maguire,  the  Mayor  has  a  closed  carriage  here 
for  you ;  you're  to  drive  to  his  flat." 

"  A  closed  carriage  !     What  for  ?  " 

"  For  the  lady,  sir.''  Before  he  could  explain  further, 
Lottie,  with  a  scream,  sprang  from  them  and  dashed 
down  the  red  street.  Her  husband  tried  to  overtake  her, 
and  the  officer,  with  a  quick  signal  to  the  driver  of  the 
carriage,  sped  after  them,  coming  up  with  Maguire,  who 
gasped : 

"  Is  it — is  it  the  Kalamazoo  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,  and  a  bad  fire." 

"  Have  any — how  about — those  inside  ?  " 


"  Fire  that  severs  day  from  night  "      441 

"  Not  many's  got  out,  I'm  afraid,  sir." 

On  the  margin  of  the  dense  crowd  a  mad  woman  was 
struggling  with  a  stalwart  policeman,  who  repelled  her 
roughly. 

"  Turn  back  out  of  this !  ''  he  roared. 

"  Oh,  my  children  !     My  children !     My  children  !  " 

"  Shut  up  your  noise;  there's  more  than  yours  there." 

"  Go  slow,  Jack/'  panted  the  other  officer,  "  that's  Mrs. 
Maguire." 

The  truculence  of  the  first  vanished  at  the  sound  of  the 
name. 

Maguire  cast  one  despairing  glance  at  the  column  of 
flame  with  its  black  coping  of  smoke,  groaned,  and  tried 
to  induce  his  wife  to  enter  the  carriage.  She  fought  all 
three  with  incredible  strength,  and  at  last  her  husband 
picked  her  up  bodily,  she  struggling,  tearing  at  his  face, 
screaming,  "  My  children  !  My  children  !  "  and  thus  de- 
mented, he  forced  her  into  the  carriage.  The  man  on  the 
box  needed  no  instructions,  but  drove  quickly  away  out 
of  the  crimson  glare  and  the  heated  atmosphere,  throb- 
bing with  the  pulsations  of  the  fire  engines. 

"  Oh,  my  children !  Let  me  get  to  them !  Coward, 
coward,  how  dare  you  take  me  from  them?  If  you  are 
afraid  to  go  where  they  are,  I'm  not.  Why  do  you  stop 
me?  I  am  their  mother,  their  mother,  their  wretched, 
wretched  mother !  " 

She  tried  to  smash  the  rattling  glass  that  had  been' 
drawn  up.  He  caught  her  two  wrists  in  his  firm  grip 
and  held  her  helpless. 

"  O,  Lottie,  Lottie,  Lottie,"  he  groaned,  "  dear  girl, 
hush.  Hush,  Lottie.  We  can  do  nothing — nothing  but 
bear  it." 

"  Nothing?  I  could  have  saved  them  if  I  had  been 
there.  I  would  have  climbed  down  the  naked  bricks  with 
them.  Why  did  we  live  in  that  place?  You  said  it  was 
fireproof  Why  were  there  no  ladders,  that  I  might  have 
gone  up  to  them  from  the  outside?  Oh,  that  furnace — 
that  furnace!  It  will  burn  in  my  brain  forever." 

"  You're  killing  yourself,  darling,  and  you're  killing 
me."  An  iron  clutch  seemed  closing  in  on  his  own 
breaking  heart. 


442  The  Victors 

"  Why  did  I  leave  them — leave  them  in  another's  care 
— my  own — my  very  own  flesh  and  blood — to  others — 
and  me,  their  mother — and — me — me — me,  their  mother, 
laughing  in  the  theatre — a  childless  woman !  O  God,  O 
God !  I'm  going  crazy !  Fiend  of  Heaven,  give  me  back 
my  children,  or  strike  me  mad — and  quickly,  quickly !  " 

And  now  it  took  all  Maguire's  giant  strength  to  com- 
bat the  demon  in  possession  of  his  wife.  Desperately 
she  grappled  with  him,  striving  to  throw  herself  from 
the  carriage,  and  silently  he  overcame  her,  his  fear  of 
doing  injury  almost  giving  her  the  victory.  At  last  her 
collapse  was  as  sudden  as  her  frenzy.  She  sank  ex- 
hausted to  the  floor  of  the  carriage,  moaning,  sobbing, 
gasping  spasmodically,  as  near  to  the  door  of  death  as 
she  would  ever  be  until  it  opened  to  receive  her. 

The  carriage  stopped  at  last,  and  Maguire,  carrying 
the  senseless  form  of  his  wife  into  Grady's  parlour,  laid 
her  on  a  couch.  The  owner  of  the  flat  was  not  in,  but 
the  servants  had  instructions  and  offered  help,  which  was 
declined  by  Maguire,  who  asked  to  be  left  alone  with 
his  wife.  He  paced  up  and  down  the  room,  his  face 
white,  his  lips  set,  resolutely  keeping  the  mastery  of  him- 
self, the  silence  disturbed  by  the  accustomed  street  noises 
below  and  the  subdued  pitiful  wailing  of  his  wife.  He 
could  not  trust  his  voice  to  offer  such  poor  consolation  as 
might  be  at  his  command^  so  walked  and  turned,  and 
walked  and  turned.  He  felt  dumbly  the  strangeness 
that  New  York  should  be  going  on  much  as  usual,  and 
the  sound  of  a  merry  laugh  beneath  startled  him  as  if  it 
had  been  a  scream. 

At  last  Grady  came  in,  opening  the  door  softly  and 
without  knocking. 

"  My  poor  boy,"  he  said  in  a  half  whisper,  "  this  is 
awful.  I  suppose  there  is  no  chance  that  the  children 
were  away  anywhere  ?  '' 

"  No.     Is  there  any  hope  of  them  having  escaped  ?  " 

"  Not  if  they  were  in  their  rooms.  No,  don't  think 
that,"  he  said  rapidly,  rightly  interpreting  his  friend's 
agonised  look.  "  A  fire  escape  would  have  been  use- 
less. The  whole  place  was  ablaze  before  one  could  turn 


"  Fire  that  severs  day  from  night  "     443 

round,  they  tell  me.  It  was  like  an  explosion  in  its  sud- 
denness ;  some  say  there  was  an  explosion.  Noth- 
ing1 could  have  been  done.  Everything  was  like  tinder 
with  the  winter  heating.  It's  small  comfort,  but  the 
worst  was  over  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye." 

"  Did  many  get  out?  '' 

"  No.  I  could  hear  no  word  of  you,  and  I  was  afraid 
you — I  saw  no  one  that  lived  in  the  house,  though  I  in- 
quired through  all  the  crowd.  At  last  the  policeman  on 
the  beat  told  me  that  you  and  Mrs.  Maguire  had  gone 
out  early  in  the  evening,  so  I  had  him  watch  for  you." 

The  prone  figure  on  the  couch  took  no  notice,  evidently 
knowing  nothing  of  what  was  going  on  about  her. 
Grady  glanced  at  her  uneasily  now  and  then.  He  low- 
ered his  voice  to  a  whisper  again. 

"  How — how  is  she  taking  it  ?  "  he  asked  awkwardly. 

"  Very — hard.  I'm  afraid  for  her.  She  was — 
wrapped  up  in  them,"  and  for  the  first  time  Maguire's 
voice  broke. 

The  other  patted  him  helplessly  on  the  shoulder. 

"  Is  there  anything  I  can  do  for  vou,  Pat?  Anything 
I  can  get?  Shall  I  send  a  doctor  up?  " 

''  No,  no ;  there's  nothing  here  a  doctor  can  cure." 

"  Well,  I'll  just  leave  you,  then.  I've  a  room  at  the 
Astor  House.  If  you  need  me,  send  down  at  any  hour. 
My  man  here  will  get  you  everything  you  want,  every- 
thing you  want." 

"  You're  a  good  fellow,  John.  Some  time  I'll  tell  you 
— better  than  I  can  now — " 

"  That's  all  right,  that's  all  right." 

He  stole  out  of  the  room  as  quietly  as  he  had  entered 
it ;  as  if  he  were  leaving  a  chamber  of  death. 


CHAPTER     IV. 
"GOD'S   WILL!   WHAT   WILFULNESS   is   THIS?" 

THERE  was  no  recurrence  of  the  frenzy  which  had,  for 
a  time,  made  the  bereaved  woman  a  maniac  on  the  night 
of  the  fire.  After  a  prolonged  period  of  quiet  exhaustive 
weeping,  Lottie  sank,  a  wan  shadow  of  her  former  self, 
into  a  profound  melancholy  from  which  it  seemed  impos- 
sible to  arouse  her.  Maguire  devoted  himself  to  his 
wife,  always  kind,  soothing,  thoughtful,  and  she  accepted 
his  constant  ministrations  with  indifferent  lassitude.  If 
his  unremitting  care  had  no  effect  upon  her  in  one  way 
or  another,  it  at  least  performed  the  retroactive  purpose 
of  assuaging  his  own  deep  grief,  an  office  which  unselfish 
usefulness  to  others  frequently  fulfils. 

"  It's  the  woman  that  suffers,"  he  would  say,  although 
his  own  mirthless  uncertain  smile  gave  token  that  the 
woman  did  not  suffer  alone. 

He  took  her  West,  hoping  that  the  scenes  of  her  girl- 
hood would  work  an  improvement  upon  her  spirits,  and 
she  went  with  him,  showing  neither  reluctance  nor  eager- 
ness. The  change,  however,  had  the  opposite,  effect  to 
what  had  been  anticipated.  Here  she  had  returned  with 
her  first  baby,  then  with  her  second.  Here  the  children 
had  played  with  their  delighted  grandparents,  frolicking 
about  the  place  with  delight  in  its  freedom  and  its  scope ; 
rejoicing  in  the  unaccustomed  liberty  of  the  farm,  the 
woods,  the  puddling  stream,  and  here —  ''  O  God,"  she 
cried,  as  she  wandered  aimlessly  about,  following  their 
traceless  footsteps,  "  here  they  would  have  been  safe !  " 

Every  bush  and  gate  and  path  brought  them  more 
vividly  to  her  distracted  mind,  and  it  seemed  impossible 
that  they  were  actually  obliterated  from  the  green  earth, 
leaving  not  a  shadow  behind  them ;  not  even  a  grave  on 
its  flowery  bosom  to  weep  over.  Like  an  unqir'et  ghost 
she  haunted  their  former  retreats,  and  once  coming  upon 

444 


"God's  will!  what  wilfulness  is  this?"    445 

a  deserted  open  shed  she  was  startled  by  the  swaying  of 
a  rope-swing  their  grandfather  had  put  up  for  them,  and 
undisturbed,  in  a  corner,  the  little  assortment  of  broken 
crockery  that  had  been  the  girl's  playhouse.  The  stricken 
woman  sank  to  the  ground,  laid  her  head  against  the  wall 
and  wept  despairingly. 

The  farm  was  a  place  of  unrest  to  Maguire.  He 
strode  over  its  broad  wintry  fields  bare  of  snow,  not 
knowing  what  to  do  with  himself;  his  feet  yearning  for 
the  pavement ;  uncaring  for  the  sward.  Letters  and  tele- 
grams urged  him  to  return ;  things  were  going  badly  in 
his  absence;  faction  was  reviving;  bitterness  in  debate, 
and  revolt  in  counsel.  The  hand  of  the  master  was 
needed,  and  that  hand  clenched  and  unclenched  as  he 
read,  itching  to  be  once  more  at  the  rudder-bar.  Bradley 
had  returned,  and  the  old  gang,  now  subordinated,  was 
gathering  round  him.  Maguire  laughed  sardonically  as 
he  perused  his  correspondence ;  when  the  gods  got  back 
the  half-gods  would  go,  and  that  speedily.  He  might 
lose  New  York,  but  he  could  not  risk  losing  his  wife,  nor 
would  he  desert  her  in  her  affliction. 

Once,  on  the  arrival  of  his  letters  from  the  East,  he 
sprang  upon  a  horse  and  rode  hot-foot  to  Ypsilanti ;  sent 
forward  a  telegraphic  message  to  New  York,  short, 
sharp,  authoritative.  It  ran  : 

"  Bounce  Donovan  and  Schwab,  and  put  Logan  and 
O'Keefe  in  their  places. 

"  PATRICK  MAGUIRE." 

It  was  literally  and  figuratively  a  stroke  of  lightning,  and 
it  shattered  two  officials  'n  high  places,  who,  puffed  with 
newly  acquired  pride,  had  come  to  fancy  that  each  was 
"  a  bigger  man  than  old  Maguire."  The  two  supposed 
the  heavens  would  fall  if  they  were  meddled  with,  but 
•the  heavens  stood,  and  their  adherents  fell — away  from 
them.  They  were  now  but  two  private  citizens  in  a 
metropolis  numbering  more  than  a  million  such,  with 
nothing  to  give  away,  and  all  through  fourteen  words, 
deadhead  at  that,  for  the  telegraph  company  did  not  re- 
quire Patrick  to  pay  for  his  messages ;  a  truly  amazing 
result,  understandable  as  the  ukase  of  a  despotic  king, 


446  The  Victors 

but  a  miracle  in  a  democracy,  when  performed  by  a  man 
holding  no  office,  responsible  to  none  for  his  actions. 
Peace  and  dumb  terror  reigned  in  Tammany,  for  Ma- 
guire  had  struck  high  and  struck  hard. 

"  That  was  magnificent,"  wrote  the  Mayor.  "  I  would 
never  have  had  the  courage  to  do  it.  I  should  have 
feared  disobedience  in  the  first  place,  and  a  split  in  the 
second.  But  there  was  no  hesitation  in  action,  although 
you  were  hundreds  of  miles  away,  and  now  those  two 
haven't  a  corporal's  guard  following  them.  There  is  no 
split,  nor  sign  of  it.  Come  back  as  soon  as  you  can. 
All  you  need  to  do  is  to  walk  up  Broadway  and  the  op- 
position will  climb  a  tree." 

But  Maguire  stayed  on,  although  he  chafed  under  in- 
action and  loathed  his  surroundings.  His  wife  gave  no 
sign  that  she  wished  to  quit  her  environment,  and  until 
she  did  he  would  not  budge.  He  suspected  that  the 
visit  was  doing  her  little  good,  but  he  was  at  a  loss  to 
propose  a  substitute  for  it.  He  distrusted  the  return 
to  New  York  and  its  effect  upon  her.  She  made  no 
complaint  and  no  suggestion,  and  seemed  to  care  but  lit- 
tle for  his  company,  so  he  roamed  the  fields  and  the 
woods,  avoiding  his  kind,  communing  with  himself 
alone. 

The  only  occasions  during  which  a  spark  of  spirit 
came  to  Lottie's  eyes  were  when  some  visiting  neighbour 
was  announced,  who  came  solemnly  to  offer  condolence ; 
friends  and  acquaintances  of  her  maiden  days  paying 
the  visits  that  were  expected  by  all  properly  brought  up 
persons  in  the  circumstances.  These  she  met  at  the  ur- 
gent solicitation  of  her  mother,  and  received  in  silence, 
with  downcast  eyes,  the  conventional  consolation  they  had 
to  offer.  The  clergyman  in  whose  congregation  she  had 
sat  all  her  girlhood  days  was  away  from  home  when  she 
came  to  the  farm,  and  his  pastoral  call  upon  his  return 
was  of  necessity  belated. 

"  I  shall  not  go  in  and  see  him,"  she  protested  to  her 
persuading  mother.  "  I  am  heartsick  of  all  this  talk, 
talk,  talk.  What  does  he  understand?'' 

"  He  is  a  good  man,  Lottie,  dear.  He  can  do  you  no 
harm,  if  he  does  you  little  benefit." 


"God's  will!  what  wilfulness  is  this?"   447 

"  Oh,  it's  easy  to  be  good  when  you  have  nothing  to 
Lear." 

"  Come  in  with  me,  darling ;  it  will  be  only  for  a  mo- 
ment, and  I  won't  ask  you  to  see  any  one  else,  if  you 
don't  want  to." 

So  at  last  the  black-garbed  woman  entered  the  par- 
lour where  her  reverend  friend  was  waiting.  He  took 
her  limp  unresisting  hand  and  expressed  the  great  sor- 
row he  had  felt  when  he  read  of  her  bereavement. 

"  But  these  burdens,  laid  upon  our  shoulders  by  an 
ever  merciful  God,  though  grievous  to  bear  at  the 
time—" 

She  drew  her  hand  away  from  his. 

" — are  for  our  ultimate  regeneration,  and  will  be 
looked  back  upon  even  by  ourselves  as  a  dispensation  to 
be  regarded  as  a  necessary  chastening;  as  an  all-bounti- 
ful mercy  which — '' 

"  Never,  never,  never,"  she  cried. 

"  My  child,  I  am  old,  and  have  in  my  calling  seen 
much  of  sorrow  and — " 

'  Then,  sir,  it  has  taught  you  little." 

"  It  has  taught  me  to  receive  with  bowed  head,  in  a 
contrite  spirit,  the  ordinances  of  a  just,  unchanging 
God—" 

"  A  just  God?  Do  you  wish  me  to  believe  that  He  is 
the  murderer  of  my  innocent  children?  Do  you  mean 
that  He — with  unrestricted  all-pervading  power,  power 
without  limit — that  He,  to  change  my  hard  heart,  if  it 
needed  changing,  must  wreak  His  vindictive  vengeance 
on  the  blameless,  must  crush  my  beating  heart  under  His 
cruel  heel?  Then  such  a  demon  God  I  curse  and  defy." 

"  My  dear  Mrs.  Maguire,  you  know  not  what  you 
say/'  gasped  the  horror-stricken  minister. 

"  O  Lottie,  Lottie ! "  cried  her  amazed,  terrified 
mother. 

"  I'll  have  nothing  of  your  God — a  man-made  God, 
with  all  man's  worst  vices,  eternally  omnipotent.  Not  a 
criminal  that  walks  the  streets  but  is  better — nobler  than 
He,  as  you  describe  him.  Let  Him  give  me  back  my 
darlings  and  I  will  worship  Him ;  yes,  crawl  to  Him, 


448  The-  Victors 

which  is  what  His  tyrant  spirit  asks.  Let  Him  beg  my 
forgiveness  for  the  agony  He  has  made  me  suffer — and 
I  will  forgive  Him — if  I  can.  But  now — now — to  ask 
me  to  bow  my  head  to  Him — to  worship  Him — He  who 
has  torn  my  babies  from  me — whose  warm,  naked  little 
bodies  I  have  pressed  loving  to  my  breast — to  leave  me 
— to  leave  me  without  a  handful  of  ashes  in  all  that 
ghastly  heap,  that  I  can  call  theirs — oh — oh — " 

She  ran  shrieking  from  the  room,  her  auditors  silent 
and  dumfounded.  Poor  Mrs.  Byfield,  hesitating  be- 
tween fear  that  her  daughter  would  harm  herself,  and 
fear  that  the  offended,  outraged  minister  would  spread 
such  awrful  heresy  about  the  world,  stood  irresolute. 

"  She  is  distraught,"  said  the  clergyman  in  a  trembling 
whisper.  "  Look  at  her.  It  will  pass  in  time — pass  in 
time — " 

"  You  will  say  nothing — '' 

"  Oh,  not  a  word ;  be  sure  of  that,"  but  the  good  man 
told  his  wife,  and  she,  in  confidence,  of  course,  spoke  to 
cherished  friends ;  thus  the  neighborhood  came  to  know 
that  life  in  a  city  is  demoralising. 

Maguire  coming  down  the  long  lane  that  led  from  the 
barns  to  the  forest,  saw  his  wife  running  toward  him, 
her  dishevelled  hair  flying  behind  her  in  the  wind.  Curi- 
ously enough  his  first  thought  was — something  has  hap- 
pened to  the  children — then  he  remembered,  and  the  dull 
weight  sank  again  upon  his  heart.  With  a  sigh  he  hur- 
ried forward  to  meet  her. 

"  Oh,  Patsey !  Patsey !  ''  she  cried,  flinging  herself  into 
his  arms,  resting  her  throbbing  head  upon  his  shoulder, 
using  again  the  old  name ;  "  Oh,  Patsey,  Patsey,  take  me 
away  from  this  place.  I  can  stand  it  no  longer." 

"  Anywhere  you  like,  my  dear,"  he  said,  caressing  and 
smoothing  her  tangled  hair. 

"  At  once,  Patsey ;  this  very  moment." 

"  Could  you  go  back  to  New  York,  now  ?  '' 

"  Oh,  New  York,  yes ;  where  else?  My  heart  is  in  that 
ash  heap  in  New  York." 

"Yes,  darling;  it's  true  what  you  say;  an'  mine's 
there  with  it." 

So  they  returned  to  New  York. 


CHAPTER    V 

"  WHAT  TELL'ST  THOU  ME  OF  ROBBING?  " 

IT  is  more  than  likely  that  nothing  new  has  been 
thought,  spoken,  written  or  done  these  five  hundred 
years  past.  The  Lord  only  knows  how  many  centuries 
have  elapsed  since  the  last  original  idea  was  put  forth ; 
the  last  original  action  accomplished.  The  human  brain 
is  at  once  so  industrious  and  so  limited  in  scope  that  it 
must  have  exhausted,  very  early  in  the  life  of  the  race, 
all  the  initiative  material  with  which  it  was  permitted  to 
deal.  Since  then  we  have  been  rethinking  dead  men's 
thoughts ;  reiterating  their  words ;  inventing  their  mar- 
vels anew ;  travelling  around  a  well-trodden  circle,  but 
adding  a  touch  of  humour  to  the  treadmill  task  by  be- 
lieving we  are  doing  it  all  for  the  first  time ;  that  the 
others  whose  footprints  we  are  obliterating  were  a  piti- 
full  lot  in  comparison  with  ourselves. 

Maguire,  now  returned,  and  in  his  element  once  more, 
imagined  that  his  plan  for  the  partial  looting  of  a 
great  city  was  new.  His  theory  was  that  the  busi- 
ness man  would  pay  for  being  left  alone,  just  as 
a  Russian,  racing  for  life  across  the  snow,  will  throw  to 
the  wolves  whatever  he  may  have  with  him,  piece  by 
piece,  as  the  price  of  his  own  safety.  Nowhere  else  on 
earth  was  the  race  for  wealth  so  keen,  so  universal,  as  in 
New  York;  nowhere,  therefore,  could  the  wolves  expect 
such  pickings  as  would  be  thrown  to  them,  did  they  but 
snarl  at  the  iron-shod  runners  of  the  sledge.  But  the 
barons  of  the  Rhine  had  done  all  this  centuries  before; 
the  merchants  paid  them  good  money  to  be  left  alone. 
In  certain  Italian  provinces  the  boss  of  the  district  sat 
at  the  receipt  of  customs  and  collected  unauthorized 
taxes  from  people  who  wished  to  live  a  quiet  life;  taxes 
29  449 


45o  The  Victors 

much  more  promptly  paid  than  those  expected  by  the 
regular  government.  Even  in  his  benefactions  to  the 
poor,  Maguire  was  not  original,  for  Robin  Hood  light- 
ened the  purses  of  the  well-to-do,  and  distributed  silver 
among  the  needy,  taking  care  that  his  own  wallet  became 
fat  in  the  process. 

Although  Maguire,  if  hard  pressed,  would  defend  the 
principles  of  William  M.  Tweed,  he  had  nothing  but 
scorn  for  the  clumsy  methods  of  his  predecessor.  Tweed 
had  stolen  millions;  Tweed  had  left  behind  him  falsified 
records,  cheques  that  could  be  trac:d,  robberies  with  a 
trail  in  the  rear.  He  was  unfit  to  be  a  Tammany  man,  for 
the  red  Indian  chief  who  gave  name  to  the  organisation 
had  certainly  slunk  through  the  dense  forest  noiselessly, 
leaving  no  footprint,  no  broken  twig,  to  mark  his  course. 

It  would  be  libellous  to  say  that  Maguire  was  a  thief. 
Like  some  of  our  beneficent  charities,  he  was  supported 
by  voluntary  contributions.  You  did  not  need  to  pay 
a  penny  to  any  of  his  numerous  satellites  unless  you 
wished  to  do  so.  Then  why  pay? 

We  will  take  the  case  of  a  saloonkeeper  on  the  cor- 
ner. The  law  requires  him  to  close  his  premises  at  cer- 
tain hours,  and  to  keep  them  closed  on  Sundays  and  at 
other  stated  times  during  the  year.  The  human  throat 
has  been  constructed  without  regard  to  the  calendar, 
and  one  of  its  peculiarities  happens  to  be  that  it  is  as 
likely  to  become  as  thirsty  on  Sunday  afternoon  as  it 
was  the  previous  Wednesday.  Hence  a  demand  for  al- 
leviation. Consequently  Sunday  trade  is  brisk  and  profit- 
able, because  there  are  more  dry  throats  about  the  streets 
that  day  than  on  any  other.  The  saloonkeeper  refuses  to 
pay.  Very  good.  He  shall  respect  the  law,  which  is  also 
very  good.  A  policeman — an  incorruptible  officer,  who 
scorns  the  surreptitious  glass  of  beer — parades  in  front 
of  the  saloon.  He  does  not  need  to  say  anything.  The 
thirsty  throats  pass  him  by  and  go  to  the  next  place. 
This  makes  all  the  difference  between  profit  and  loss  to 
the  saloonkeeper,  and  there  is  a  touch  of  opera  bouffe 
about  the  business.  Imagine  him  attempting  to  com- 
plain that  he  is  compelled  to  abide  by  the  law !  What  are 


"What  tell'st  them  me  of  robbing?"    451 

the  police  there  for  but  to  accomplish  that  very  object? 
The  stricken  beer-  merchant  may  proclaim  that  other 
shops  are  allowed  to  remain  open.  Are  they  ?  It  is  easy 
to  make  rash  assertion,  but  difficult  to  supply  legal  proof. 
The  thirsty  throats  cannot  be  expected  to  turn  state's 
evidence  upon  the  man  who  kept  an  oasis  in  the  desert, 
and  there  can  be  no  other  witnesses.  But  even  if  a  man 
could  summon  up  proof  strong  as  Holy  Writ,  it  would 
have  little  effect  upon  a  judge  owned  by  the  organisa- 
tion which  exacted  tribute.  It  needs  no  ghost  from  the 
grave  to  show  us  that  there  are  exactly  one  of  two  things 
to  do — shut  up  shop  or  pay  the  sum  expected. 

Still,  after  all,  law-breakers  are  a  small  minority  in 
any  community.  The  bulk  of  the  people  desire  to  make 
their  living  as  honestly  as  may  be.  What,  then,  of 
those  reputable  dealers  who  respect  the  law  and  hope 
rigidly  to  abide  by  it?  They  also  have  two  courses  be- 
fore them.  They  may  set  aside  a  fighting  fund,  of  ne- 
cessity much  larger  than  any  sum  exacted  from  them  by 
the  party  in  power,  engage  an  expensive  lawyer  and  de- 
fend themselves  from  court  to  court,  ultimately  vic- 
torious, perhaps.  Or  they  may  pay  blackmail  and  work 
in  peace. 

Some  communities  have  a  genius  for  law-making, 
others  a  sensitiveness  regarding  the  keeping  of  laws 
they  already  possess,  but  the  two  qualities  rarely  run 
neck  and  neck.  It  is  soothing  to  the  conscience,  conducive 
to  a  feeling  of  self-righteousness,  to  place  a  good  law 
on  the  statute  book.  It  is  like  a  man  paying  a  debt  by 
giving  his  promissory  note  for  it,  and  having  the  burden 
thus  off  his  mind.  "  There,"  he  says  virtuously,  "  that's 
settled."  The  statute  books  bristle  with  excellent,  wholly 
unnecessary  enactments,  which  would  be  as  annoying  as 
wasps  if  they  possessed  the  activity  of  those  insects ;  but, 
thank  goodness,  they  slumber  where  the  legislature 
placed  them  and  pester  not  a  patient  public.  However, 
let  some  well-meaning,  impracticable,  meddlesome  per- 
son stir  up  this  hive  of  wasps  with  a  stick — this  quiescent 
multitude,  each  with  a  sting  of  penalty  in  its  tail — and 
the  public  will  roar  with  anger.  Logically,  the  public 


452  The  Victors 

should  smother  the  wasps,  but  it  does  no  such  thing;  it 
promptly  slaughters  the  man  with  the  stick.  Thus  re- 
form administrations  invariably  wreck  themselves.  They 
probe  about  with  a  poker.  They  say  to  themselves, 
"  These  laws  were  made  to  be  kept,"  and  they  proceed  to 
see  that  this  is  done.  Then  they  rise  dazed  the  morning 
after  election  and  -/onder  who  hit  them  on  the  head 
with  a  ballot  box. 

But  a  judicious  keeper  of  the  hive  may  do  much  effec- 
tive work  with  it.  He  takes  a  dormant  wasp  and  slips 
it  under  the  collar  of  a  busy  man  absorbed  over  his  desk. 
There  is  a  yell  of  pain,  an  instant  ceasing  of  work — a 
strict  attendance  upon  the  wasp. 

"  Why  did  you  do  that  ? "  wails  the  victim  of  the 
sting. 

An  outstretched  upturned  palm  is  the  answer. 

"  Then  you  won't  do  it  again  if  I  pay  ?  " 

"  Certainly  not,"  is  the  reply.  "  What  are  we  here 
for?" 

Now  this  victim  alone  cannot  slaughter  the  keeper  of 
the  hive ;  it  requires  the  whole  community  to  do  that. 
But  the  whole  community  has  not  been  stung;  only  one 
stubborn  individual  here  and  there.  Even  the  individ- 
uals do  not  know  one  another  and  cannot  act  together, 
for  each  secretes  the  sting  he  has  received,  does  not  talk 
about  it,  and  is  mainly  anxious  that  he  shall  not  be  called 
upon  to  endure  another.  So  the  keeper  of  the  dormant 
wasps  has  things  pretty  much  his  own  way  as  long  as  he 
does  not  let  loose  the  whole  hive. 

Even  if  the  wasps  prove  stingless,  they  are,  neverthe- 
less, annoying  under  a  shirt.  A  merchant  may  find  that 
his  delivery  vans  are  obstructing  the  street ;  that  his  em- 
ployees have  left  a  bale  of  goods  too  long  on  the  public 
sidewalk ;  that  his  premises  are  dangerous  and  need  to 
be  remodelled  for  the  general  safety.  All  these  charges 
may  prove  baseless,  but  the  annoyance  and  expense  of 
refuting  them  are  as  palpable  as  the  indictments  are  un- 
real. All  the  fundamental  machinery  of  the  law  is  in  the 
hands  of  his  persecutors :  the  police  are  theirs ;  the  sub- 
ordinate judges  belong  to  them.  What,  then,  is  a  sensi- 


"What  tell'st  thou  me  of  robbing?"     453 

ble,  practical  business  man  to  do?  Vote  anti-Tam- 
many? Of  course  he  votes  anti-Tammany — that  is,  if 
election  day  happens  to  be  fine ;  November  weather  has  a 
habit  of  being  the  reverse,  and  a  man  is  not  expected  to 
endanger  his  health  hanging  about  a  polling  booth  in  a 
wind-swept  winter  street.  Then  again,  he  may  not  have 
the  time  to  vote,  for  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  holi- 
day trade  is  then  at  its  briskest,  and  a  man  cannot  well 
leave  it  to  the  hands  of  others.  Finally,  what  is  the  use 
of  one  vote,  anyway?  A  contest  is  rarely  lost  or  won 
by  a  single  vote,  so  let  u-s  spend  election  day  making 
some  more  money ! 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  American  is  wise  in 
business  and  a  fool  in  politics.  He  is  successful  in 
whichever  branch  he  takes  up,  but  he  does  not  divide  his 
energies  by  attempting  both  at  once.  McAllister  was 
triumphant  in  business ;  Maguire  was  a  conqueror  in 
politics.  The  business  man  seems  a  failure  in  politics 
simply  because  he  hasn't  the  time  to  devote  himself  to  it. 
He  cares  little  about  power  for  its  own  sake;  merely  as 
a  means  to  an  end,  usually  expressible  in  dollars.  But 
when  a  business  man  thinks  it  worth  while  to  lav  down 
his  work  and  take  up  the  cares  of  government,  he  makes 
the  regular  politician  wish  he  had  selected  another  occu- 
pation, for  regular  politicians  are  necessarily  possessed 
of  limited  brain  power.  No  capable  man  can  afford  to 
bother  with  the  uncertainties  of  public  favour ;  the  prizes 
of  commercial  or  professional  life  are  too  huge  for  ex- 
istence to  be  frittered  away  catering  for  the  popular 
vote.  The  business  man  may  not  be  able  to  elect  him- 
self president,  but  there  is  at  least  one  instance  on  record 
where  he  cast  his  eye  over  eighty  millions  of  people,  se- 
lected a  politician  from  among  them,  and  made  that  poli- 
tician chief  of  the  greatest  nation  on  earth. 

Here,  then,  at  the  feet  of  the  victor,  Maguire,  lay  the 
conquered  country,  rich  as  a  rajah's  province  of  Gol- 
conda,  powerless  as  Hungary  under  Marshal  Haynau. 
Heretofore  the  vicious  and  the  lawbreaker  had  always 
contributed  fitfully  to  the  coffers  of  the  party  in  office ; 
now  Maguire  flung  wide  his  net  over  just  and  unjust 


454  The  Victors 

alike.  He  brought  a  sort  of  rough  equity  to  bear  on  the 
business,  fitting  the  burden  to  the  back  compelled  to  sus- 
tain it,  allotting  exaction  with  some  sense  of  proportion 
to  the  extent  of  traffic  that  was  to  produce  it.  Not  even 
the  foreigner  escaped,  and  Europe  winced  when  Maguire 
squeezed.  Great  steamship  companies,  with  stock- 
owned  in  part  by  emperors  and  kings,  paid  tribute  to  the 
uncrowned  monarch,  surely  a  reversal  of  former  epi- 
sodes, and  thus  in  a  measure,  not  foreseen  by  the  poet, 
did  the  New  World  right  the  wrongs  of  the  Old.  Ma- 
guire liked  to  see  those  about  him  happy,  and  they  were. 
Gold  passing  from  hand  to  hand  loses  by  attrition,  thus 
bankers  weigh  rather  than  count.  No  man  living  could 
say  with  truth  that  he  had  bribed  Maguire,  yet  this  auto- 
crat, holding  no  office,  drawing  no  visible  salary,  grew 
rich  in  money,  in  houses,  in  lands.  Improvements  hap- 
pened to  be  inaugurated  where  his  town  lots  lay,  values 
increased  like  magic,  gold  bred  gold.  The  island  of 
Monte  Cristo  was  a  mere  penny  bank  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean compared  with  the  island  of  Plutus  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Hudson. 


CHAPTER    VI 

"  TURNS    INSURRECTION    TO    RELIGION  " 

IF  Maguire  prospered  in  the  work  of  his  life,  his  do- 
mestic  affairs  were  far  from  being  to  his  satisfaction. 
His  wife  seemed  unable  or  uncaring  to  throw  off  the 
deep,  melancholy  that  oppressed  her.  When  they  re- 
turned together  from  their  disappointing  visit  to  the 
Western  farm,  he  hoped  that  house-hunting  would  offer 
a  distraction  peculiarly  acceptable  to  a  woman,  but  she 
showed  little  interest  in  the  search ;  expressing  no 
preference  for  one  locality  over  another.  Maguire  had 
taken  her  to  the  palatial  Windsor  Hotel,  where  he  had 
secured  a  suite  of  rooms  on  the  second  floor,  and  from 
that  point  as  a  centre  he  spent  what  time  he  could  spare 
from  his  business  in  looking  for  a  more  permanent  abid- 
ing place.  Lottie,  however,  appeared  as  satisfied  to  stay 
where  she  was  as  to  go  elsewhere.  So  the  Windsor  be- 
ing convenient  for  Maguire,  the  quest  for  a  house  was 
abandoned  when  he  saw  his  wife  remained  indifferent 
about  the  matter.  In  fact  he  became  aware  that  the  pur- 
suit brought  back  vividly  to  her  clouded  mind  the  dis- 
aster which  was  the  cause  of  their  seeking,  and  he  quietly 
relinquished  the  task  until  time  should  have  blunted  the 
poignancy  of  bereavement.  He  imagined  also  that  she 
might  perhaps  be  wooed  into  forgetfulness  the  speedier 
among  the  bustling  scenes  of  a  great  caravansary  than 
in  the  comparative  seclusion  of  a  private  dwelling.  But 
as  time  went  on  no  improvement  manifested  itself ;  rather 
the  opposite,  for  Lottie  became  more  pale  and  wan, 
more  •evidently  weary  of  the  world,  until  Patrick,  with  a 
sickening  sinking  of  the  heart,  began  to  fear  he  would 
lose  wife  as  well  as  children.  He  told  her,  with  as- 
sumed glee,  how  rich  he  was  becoming — real  estate  spec- 

455 


456  The  Victors 

illations,  tremendous  advances  in  railroad  property — but 
her  whole  interest  in  the  accumulation  of  wealth  had 
been  that  her  children  should  not  need  to  work  so  hard 
as  he  had  done,  and  now,  when  they  were  gone,  of  what 
use  was  this  piling  up  of  bonds  and  stocks? 

Maguire  had  much  faith  in  Christianity ;  he  thought 
religion  a  good  thing — for  a  woman — and  he  urged  her 
to  come  to  church  with  him.  He  was  not  a  professed  ad- 
herent of  any  sect,  being  extremely  liberal  in  his  re- 
ligious opinions.  He  was  willing  to  join  any  congrega- 
tion in  the  city  on  the  chance  of  one  sermon  or  another 
supplying  the  consolation  his  wife  so  greatly  needed, 
but  she  steadfastly  refused  to  accompany  him.  Deep 
down  in  his  heart,  unconfessed,  perhaps  unknown  even 
to  himself,  was  a  lingering  affection  for  the  old  faith  in 
which  he  had  been  brought  up  as  a  boy.  No  patient, 
mild-eyed  nun  ever  sought  in  vain  a  contribution  from 
Maguire;  no  priest  with  some  needed  mission  on  his 
mind  but  left  the  Boss  with  the  mission  funds  substan- 
tially increased. 

One  day,  to  Lottie's  surprise,  a  priest  called  upon  her, 
a  venerable,  scholarly  man,  a  courtier  in  manner,  a  gen- 
tleman in  speech  and  bearing.  Now  such  is  the  incon- 
sistency of  human  nature  that,  although  Lottie  had  some- 
what rudely  thrown  away  the  religious  tenets  of  her 
youth  as  a  broken  staff  which  had  failed  her  in  time  of 
need,  she  nevertheless  retained  deep  down  in  her  mind 
the  prejudices  which  that  belief,  as  it  was  taught  to  her, 
had  inculcated,  and  among  these  prejudices  was  a  hor- 
ror of  what  she  termed  Romish  error.  She  greeted  the 
reverend  father  coldly,  and  he  was  quick  to  see  that  he 
made  no  headway  with  her.  He  had  more  tact  than 
the  Western  clergyman,  however,  and  diplomatically  for- 
bore to  labour  a  point  when  he  perceived  that  his  lis- 
tener showed  signs  of  impatience.  He  took  his  leave 
with  a  suavity  of  farewell  which  gave  no  hint  of  a 
knowledge  that  his  embassy  had  failed,  for  the  time 
being  at  least. 

"  Was  it  you  sent  that  priest  here  to-day,  Patrick  ?  " 
she  asked  of  her  husband  later. 


"  Turns  insurrection  to  religion  "       457 

"Oh,  did  the  reverend  gentleman  drop  in?  I'm  glad 
of  that.  He's  an  old  friend  of  mine,  a  good  man  who 
can  tell  a  good  story  with  the  best  of  them.  I  hope  you 
liked  'him." 

"  Patrick,  I  believe  you  are  a  Catholic  at  heart." 

"  Who  ?  Me  ?  Not  a  bit  of  it.  I  keep  an  open  mind 
on  the  subject,  like  a  mugwump  voter  between  elections. 
As  far  as  religion  is  concerned,  I  resemble  that  Western 
man  who  said  he  was  a  Methodist,  but  hadn't  been  work- 
ing at  it  lately.  That's  how  it  is  with  me.  Truth  to 
tell,  if  I  wanted  to  meet  my  forefathers  in  the  next 
world,  and  I'm  not  sure  I  do,  for  it's  mighty  little  they 
left  me  in  this  one,  it's  in  the  Roman  fold  I'd  have  to  go, 
for  that's  where  they  all  were,  right  enough.  No,  Lot- 
tie. I'm  no  Catholic;  maybe  I'd  be  a  better  man  if  I  was." 

"  Oh,  you're  a  good  man,  Patsey,  but  I  cannot  under- 
stand how  sensible  people  bring  themselves  to  believe  in 
purgatory." 

"  Is  it  purgatory  ?  Well  now,  Lottie,  there's  a  word  or 
two  to  be  said  for  that  same  device.  You  see  the  Prot- 
estant churches  are  all  one  thing  or  the  other.  It's 
either  you're  a  saint  in  heaven,  or  t'  hell  wid  ye.  Now 
there's  a  powerful  waste  of  good  material  there,  to  my 
way  of  thinking.  Take  an  ordinary  every-day  sort  of 
man  like  myself,  for  instance.  I  know  I'm  plenty  good 
enough  for  New  York,  but  I'm  not  that  conceited  as  to 
think  I'm  just  fit  for  heaven  at  a  moment's  notice.  On 
the  other  hand,  I  don't  know  that  I'm  bad  enough  to 
take  any  real  enjoyment  out  of  the  bottomless  pit.  Be- 
sides, it  will  be  full  of  mugwumps  anyhow,  and  that's  no 
kind  of  society  for  the  like  of  me.  Now  a  Baptist 
preacher  would  have  no  hesitation ;  he'd  burn  me  up  for 
ever  and  ever.  I  don't  tlv'nk  that  would  be  quite  fair. 
But  the  priest  would  say  to  me,  '  Come  on,  Pat,  and 
we'll  smelt  out  of  you  all  these  little  discrepancies  that 
are  very  useful  in  New  York,  but  for  which  there's  no 
call  at  all  at  all  in  Paradise,  and  when  that's  done  you 
can  take  your  robe  and  trot  upstairs.'  It's  just  like  a 
man  going  into  a  Turkish  bath  and  coming  out  a  clean 
citizen  with  a  white  sheet  round  him.  There's  a  com- 


458  The  Victors 

mon-sense  ring  about  the  proposal  that  seems  to  appeal 
to  a  plain  man  like  myself,  but  that's  not  to  say  I'm  a 
Catholic  at  all,  for  I'm  not — that  is,  as  far  as  the  returns 
are  in  at  present." 

The  discussion  ended  here,  for  Patrick  had  it  all  his 
own  way  with  no  opposition  from  his  wife,  who  sat 
gently  swaying  back  and  forth  in  her  rocking  chair,  her 
hands  folded  in  her  lap,  her  saddened  eyes  gazing  into 
the  past.  Patrick  sighed  as  he  recognised  the  usual 
hopeless  attitude,  and  saw  that  she  was  not  even  listen- 
ing to  what  he  said. 

Spring  passed  and  summer  was  again  upon  them,  its 
hot  breath  suddenly  transforming  New  York  into  a  huge 
oven.  People  took  to  sleeping  in  the  parks,  on  the  door- 
steps, on  the  housetops,  and  those  who  could,  fled  to 
cooler  regions. 

"  What  do  you  say  to  Atlantic  City,  Lottie  ?  I  can 
give  you  Newport  if  you  like.  Which  shall  it  be?" 

"  It's  all  the  same  to  me,  Patsey." 

"  Then  Atlantic  City  it  is.  I  hate  Newport ;  it's  a 
snobbish  place,  but  Atlantic  City  is  democracy  let  loose, 
especially  when  a  dozen  excursions  come  whooping  in. 
You'll  see  the  hoy  policy — which  sounds  like  Irish,  but 
Grady  tells  me  it's  Greek — bathing  there  in  thousands, 
and  they  don't  charge  a  cent  for  tramping  along  the  Board 
Walk.  I  think  for  true  enjoyment  there's  nothing  like 
Atlantic  City  unless  it  be  Coney  Island." 

"  It  will  suit  me  if  it  suits  you,  Patsey.'' 

"  It  suits  me  down  to  the  ground,  or  down  to  the  sand, 
rather.  When  they  talked  of  foolish  men  building 
houses  on  the  sand,  Atlantic  City  had  not  been  thought 
of ;  they  tell  me  town  lots  have  gone  up  something  awful 
these  last  few  years.  I  think  I'll  invest  in  two  or  three 
waggon  loads  of  sand  and,  if  it  doesn't  blow  away,  I'll 
make  me  fortune.  The  place  is  only  two  hours  from 
New  York  and  I  have  a  pass  on  the  road,  so  I'll  be  con- 
tented, especially  as  there's  a  telephone  and  a  telegraph 
office  in  the  basement  of  the  hotel ;  for  the  price  of  power 
in  politics  is  eternal  vigilance,  as  somebody  else  said 
about  something  else.'' 


11  Turns  insurrection  to  religion  "       459 

Lottie  made  no  reply  to  his  flippant  remarks,  but  the 
lids  slowly  drooped  over  her  eyes,  and  he  saw  two  tears 
trickle  from  under  them,  and  knew  well  what  brought 
them,  for  heretofore  her  summers  had  been  spent  on  the 
home  farm  in  Michigan,  and  now  this  was  not  to  be 
talked  of.  He  tried  to  whistle  the  latest  street  tune,  but 
there  waj  a  catch  in  his  own  throat,  so  he  turned  away 
as  from  a  problem  that  baffled  him.  What  to  do  with 
this  apathetic,  uncomplaining,  sinking  woman,  so  differ- 
ent from  the  joyous  girl  he  married,  and  yet  more  dear 
to  him  than  even  she  had  been,  he  did  not  know. 

At  an  immense  hotel,  end  on  to  the  sea,  the  other  ex- 
tremity extending  far  up  town,  he  secured  rooms  on 
the  first  floor,  with  a  private  balcony  overlooking  the 
ocean,  the  trampling  Board  Walk  on  stilts  stretching  in 
front,  the  waves  running  up  the  smooth  sand  under- 
neath at  high  tide.  They  were  in  the  midst  of  a  city  of 
tinder,  pine  and  paint ;  a  town  of  kindling  wood ;  a 
temptation  to  Providence  or  to  the  devil  who  holds  a 
torch.  Let  a  careless  light,  a  high  wind  and  the  psycho- 
logical moment  coincide,  and  Atlantic  City  will  be  a 
trace  of  ashes  on  the  sand ;  a  cloud  of  smoke  in  the  ho- 
rizon ;  a  smell  of  rosin  in  the  air.  Here  thousands  of 
gladsome  folk  feasted  and  danced,  and  paced  the  Board 
Walk,  giving  no  thought  to  the  morrow  or  the  lurid  mid- 
night that  might  intervene.  Along  the  Board  Walk 
Vanity  Fair  had  set  its  booths :  on  the  land  side,  shows, 
shops,  theatres,  restaurants,  picture  galleries,  shooting 
ranges,  mineral  water  stands  (as  many  glasses  as  you 
please  for  five  cents,  arctic  cold),  soda  water  fountains, 
ice-cream  tables,  whirligigs  and  what  not  in  unbroken 
line ;  on  the  water  side  here  and  there,  covered  pavilions 
with  seats,  and  here  and  there  spindle-shanked  piers  jut- 
ting out  into  the  ocean,  surmounted  by  mammoth  build- 
ings, where  pleasure  reigned  supreme  at  from  ten  cents 
to  a  quarter.  Who  could  fail  to  find  enjoyment  in  such 
a  place? 

One  at  least  moved  among  the  throng,  patient  with  it 
all  but  indifferent.  Wherever  she  took  her  slow  way 
through  the  wide  hall,  extending  from  end  to  end  of  the 


460  The  Victors 

long  hotel,  or  on  the  broad  veranda  surounding  it,  place 
was  silently  made  for  her;  the  most  luxurious  rocking 
chair  was  unobtrusively  put  at  her  disposal;  for  America 
is  the  home  of  delicate  courtesy,  and  a  woman  finds  all 
men  her  servants.  It  had  become  known  that  this  sad- 
faced  lady,  so  young  and  yet  with  a  glimmer  of  silver  in 
her  abundant  ha:r,  was  a  sufferer  from  that  almost-for- 
gotten tragedy  of  the  winter  before  in  New  York,  and  a 
respectful  sympathy  followed  her  footsteps. 

Maguire  himself  was  now  here,  now  there,  now  some- 
where else.  Eager  and  enterprising  reporters  came 
dashing  from  New  York  only  to  find  that  he  had  passed 
them  on  the  fast  train  going  east.  The  Philadelphia 
papers  arrived  early  each  morning  at  Atlantic  City,  but 
Pat  had  no  interest  in  them.  He  didn't  mind  what  they 
said;  they  were  out  of  his  jurisdiction;  but  he  grasped 
the  first  New  York  sheet  almost  before  the  boy  had  cut 
the  string  of  the  ungainly  bundle  which  the  expressman 
heaved  in  through  the  basement  window  next  the  news 
stand.  At  other  times  Maguire  was  the  lavish  cus- 
tomer of  the  telegraphic  youth,  whose  counter  and  click- 
ing instrument  were  adjacent  to  the  mountainous  assort- 
ment of  paper-covered  literature.  Or  when  the  Boss 
was  not  telegraphing,  there  might  be  visible  through  the 
heavy  bevelled  plate  glass  window  of  the  telephone  cab- 
inet a  section  of  his  broad  back,  thick  neck  and  power- 
ful, close-cropped,  cannon-ball  head. 

On  one  occasion  the  comparative  quiet  of  this  rather 
select  hotel  was  disturbed  by  the  invasion  of  a  delega- 
tion from  New  York  who  wanted  to  see  the  Boss ;  men 
loudly  dressed,  with  hats  on  the  bridges  of  their  noses, 
and  cigars  tilted  skywards;  incongruous  amidst  these 
surroundings,  knowing  it,  and  trying  to  carry  it  off  with 
a  swagger ;  elbows  out-thrust,  and  a  pugilistic  air  in 
their  walk.  A  general  what-have-you-got-to-say-about- 
it  attitude  distinguished  them.  They  wondered  why  Pat 
had  taken  up  his  quarters  in  a  hotel  that  hadn't  a  bar,  but 
thev  made  up  for  the  deficiency  elsewhere.  And  Ma- 
guire was  in  his  element  among  them,  knew  where  the 
best  liquid  was  to  be  had,  and  would  as  soon  see  them 


"  Turns  insurrection  to  religion  "       461 

draw  a  revolver  as  a  purse  while  he  was  with  them.  He 
called  them  all  by  their  Christian  names,  and  would 
neither  give  nor  receive  the  title  of  "  Mr."  He  was 
genial  and  friendly,  confidential  now  with  this  one,  now 
with  that,  and  when  they  departed  each  felt  that  he  had 
been  specially  marked  out  as  sharing  the  inner  thoughts 
of  the  Boss.  Each  looked  upon  himself  as  being  the 
chosen  repository  of  secrets  regarding  the  difficulty  of 
Maguire's  position,  his  desire  to  do  the  right  thing  all 
round  and,  if  none  of  them  got  exactly  what  he  wanted, 
except  in  the  way  of  drinks,  all  got  something,  if  it  was 
only  an  assurance  of  favours  to  come.  Every  man  in  the 
delegation  believed  he  would  have  been  the  one  se- 
lected could  the  Boss  have  had  everything  his  own  way, 
which  it  seemed  was  not  yet  the  case.  They  called  him 
Boss,  but  Maguire  insisted  there  was  no  Boss;  he  was 
only  an  adviser,  and  sometimes  his  advice  was  neglected. 
They  gave  him  a  tiger's  yell  as  their  special  car,  like 
themselves,  loaded  with  whisky,  pulled  out  from  the  long 
shingled  shed  called  the  depot,  and  he  stood  on  the  plat- 
form waving  his  handkerchief  at  them ;  then  he  went  to 
the  nearest  Western  Union  office  and  telegraphed  Grady 
for  Heaven's  sake  to  keep  those  mugs  at  home  if  he 
could. 

Yes,  Patrick,  these  were  your  busy  days,  and  most 
deftly  did  you  pull  the  wires.  No  man  could  have 
moulded  more  diplomatically  the  crude  material  with 
which  you  had  to  work.  Important,  too,  these  large  af- 
fairs, craftily  dealt  with ;  the  concerns  of  the  metropolis 
of  the  western  world,  with  no  thought  of  the  city's  good 
hampering  your  designs ;  a  fowl  to  be  plucked ;  but, 
gently,  so  that  the  bird  might  not  be  goaded  to  scream 
too  loudly,  or  peck  at  the  stripping  hand. 

Nevertheless,  nearer  to  you  than  all  these  things,  there 
is  need  for  caution.  Walk  warily  and  think  deeply,  for 
this  matter  is  saturated  with  the  essence  of  life  or  of 
death.  Look  to  your  wife,  and  that  not  through  the 
fumes  of  bourbon,  but  through  the  clear  medium  of 
truth  and  understanding. 

Her  mind  may  be  likened  to  one  of  those  emerald  pas- 


462  The  Victors 

tures  of  sweet  grass  among  which  she  spent  her  child- 
hood. It  has  been  rudely  torn  by  the  ploughshare  of  ca- 
lamity, burying  the  greensward  from  sight,  and  turning 
to  the  air  rough  brown  clods  on  which  the  eye  rests  with 
dismay.  But  the  preacher  spoke  truth,  however  scorn- 
fully his  trite  maxims  were  received.  Time  is  the  great 
assuager.  The  frosts  of  grief  have  disintegrated  the 
clods;  the  gentle  rain  of  tears  has  loosened  the  stub- 
born lumps  ;  the  field  is  still  brown,  but  the  mould  is  ready 
for  the  sower.  Now  is  the  time  for  your  preacher  or 
your  priest.  Even  if  none  such  arrive,  the  hidden  grass 
will  reappear ;  but  if  a  sower  come,  beware  that  the  seed 
be  true,  and  of  honest  culture. 

"  Patsey,  did  you  see  those  Shakers  down  in  the 
hall?" 

"  No.     What  are  they  shaking  for  ?     Drinks  ?  " 

The  silence  and  the  look  of  reproach  brought  Ma- 
guire  to  his  senses,  and  he  resolutely  shook  himself  free 
of  the  muddling  influences  of  his  hospitality. 

"  Don't  mind  me,  Lottie,  my  dear,  I'm  always  talking 
through  my  hat  when  I  get  the  chance.  To  tell  the 
straight  truth,  Lottie,  I've  been  round  so  much  with 
them  tanks  from  New  York  that  it's  a  wonder  I  can  see 
anything;  s'  truth.  I  passed  the  hotel  twice  without  no- 
ticing it.  I  wouldn't  have  been  in  now  if  I  hadn't  stum- 
bled against  it ;  it  was  a  doorstep  that  happened  to  be 
cluttering  my  feet,  and  so,  as  the  elevator  was  sober,  I 
managed  to  get  up  here.  It  is  the  Shakers  ye'r  talking 
about?  What  are  they?  Is  there  any  difference  be- 
tween them  and  the  Quakers  ?  " 

"  The  Shakers  do  not  believe  in  marriage ;  the  Quak- 
ers do;  that's  one  difference." 

"  Ah,  then  the  Shakers  can  count  me  out.  I'll  not  join 
them.  I'm  a  Quaker,  I  am.  And  I  can  save  them  the 
price  of  a  passage  to  Cork,  for  they'll  never  convert  the 
Irish  nation  to  any  such  doctrine,  I  can  tell  them  that. 
We  Irishmen  are  too  fond  of  our  wives  and  our — " 

He  checked  himself,  stretched  out  his  feet  and  gazed 
at  them.  His  wife  sighed  and  looked  at  him  with  liquid 
eyes,  but  went  bravely  on. 


"  Turns  insurrection  to  religion  "       463 

"  Two  of  these  Shaker  women  have  a  room  on  the 
office  floor,  where  they  sell  things  made  by  the  com- 
munity— cloaks,  dressed  dolls,  work  baskets,  all  in  gay 
colours,  while  they  themselves  are  dressed  so  soberly. 
Such  dove-like  women,  with  low,  soft  voices ;  it  is  a 
pleasure  with  a  touch  of  melancholy  in  it  to  hear  them 
say  so  gently  and  quaintly  '  thee '  and  '  thou '  and 
'  yea '  and  '  nay.'  They  were  so  restful  and  soothing 
and  at  such  peace  with  all  the  world  that  it  seemed  to  me 
if  they  would  but  press  their  cool,  healing  hands  on  my 
brow  it  would  stop  its  aching  and  throbbing." 

"  Let's  have  these  wemen  up  here  at  once,"  cried  Ma- 
guire,  starting  unsteadily  to  his  feet. 

"  No,  no,  dear.  They  are  busy.  They  have  to  market 
their  goods  for  the  benefit  of  the  Shaker  community." 

"  They'll  never  sell  quicker  than  when  I'm  with  them. 
I'll  buy  their  whole  outfit  and  pay  double  prices  for  it ; 
yes,  and  send  the  conglomeration  to  the  poorest  district 
in  New  York  and  distribute  it  where  it  will  do  the  most 
good.  Come  along  down  and  introduce  me." 

"  Not  to-day,  Patsey." 

Maguire  was  quick  to  see  the  imputation,  although  his 
wife  had  striven  to  keep  all  hint  of  it  from  her  tone. 
Many  another  man  would  have  resented  it,  but  he  re- 
plied in  subdued  voice: 

"  All  right,  all  right,  Lottie.  Just  as  you  say,  my 
dear.'' 

He  walked  with  somewhat  excessive  erectness  to  the 
window  and  looked  out  at  the  ocean,  muttering  to  him- 
self: 

"  Maguire,  ye  drinking  brute.  I'd  club  the  head  off 
ye  if  I  got  ye  outside.  Ye'r  not  fit  to  speak  to  her,  an' 
ye  know  it." 

They  went  down  next  day,  but  the  Shakers  had  gone 
and  a  commercial  traveller  from  Boston  occupied  the 
room. 


CH  AFTER   VII 

"  AND   SWEET    RELIGION    MAKES    A    RHAPSODY    OF    WORDS  " 

AT  the  cityward  end  of  the  hotel  was  an  ample  dining- 
room,  and  from  this  there  ran  the  whole  length  of  the 
building  a  spacious  hall,  like  a  broad,  straight  river,  wid- 
ening into  a  lake  at  the  office,  and  opening  out  into  sev- 
eral bays  as  it  proceeded  to  the  ocean,  bays  that 
were  sub-parlours,  furnished,  one  in  the  Japanese 
style,  another  with  Turkish  divans  and  pearl  inlaid 
octagonal  tables,  handy  for  coffee  cups.  At  last 
the  hall  debouched  into  a  considerable  drawing-room  in 
which  stood  the  grand  piano.  The  banks  of  this  direct 
canal  were  lined  with  palms  and  flowering  plants,  and 
the  whole  runway  was  a  lounging  place,  replete  with 
cane  rockers  and  easy  chairs  of  every  imaginable  va- 
riety. In  the  office  enlargement  there  was  always  more 
or  less  of  a  throng,  especially  when  letters  were  deliv- 
ered and  trains  from  New  York  or  Philadelphia  arrived. 
The  carpets  everywhere  were  thick  and  soft  and  of  sub- 
dued hue ;  good  engravings  and  etchings  lined  the  walls, 
with  here  and  there  an  oil  painting  or  water  colour,  but 
the  air  of  luxury  and  comfort  culminated  in  the  drawing- 
room.  This  capacious  apartment  had  several  windows 
and  one  that  was  notable — a  magnificent  sheet  of  plate 
glass  of  such  limpid  translucency  that  more  than  one 
newcomer,  unconsciously  imitating  Alice's  treatment  of 
her  looking-glass,  had  been  tempted  to  step  through  it  to 
the  veranda  outside.  From  the  comparative  obscurity 
of  the  hall  this  immense  pane  had  the  startling  appearance 
of  an  animated  picture,  framed  in  dull,  heavy  gold,  pos- 
sessing as  immediate  foreground  the  never-ceasing  pro- 
cession on  the  Board  Walk ;  beyond,  the  dappled,  spark- 
464 


"  Religion  makes  a  rhapsody  of  words  "   465 

ling  ocean,  dotted  with  distant  sails,  and  across  the  en- 
tire sheet,  as  if  marked  by  a  ruler,  the  clear-cut  line  of 
the  horizon,  blue  sky  meeting  bluer  water,  the  one  flecked 
with  fleecy  clouds,  the  other  with  snowy  canvas. 

Though  cool  and  quiet  this  parlour  was  in  little  de- 
mand, the  visitors,  with  singular  unanimity,  preferring 
the  broad,  breezy  veranda,  where  chatter  and  laughter 
were  incessant,  the  gay  fluttering  summer  dresses  of  the 
ladies  bestowing  variety  and  piquancy  upon  an  attractive 
scene. 

But  in  the  more  secluded  drawing-room  Lottie  Ma-, 
guire  preferred  to  sit  opposite  this  magic  picture  when 
the  solitude  of  her  own  apartment  became  irksome  to  her 
and  she  felt  a  natural  liking  for  contact  with  the  cheery 
public  life  of  the  hotel,  though  lacking  any  actual  desire 
for  mingling  with  it.  She  had  this  parlour  very  much  to 
herself;  sometimes  a  girl,  with  the  sprightliness  of  a 
gaily  decked  humming  bird,  flitted  in,  took  a  glance  at 
the  tall  mirror,  gave  a  dab  here  and  there  to  her  hat,  her 
hair  or  her  plumage  and  flitted  out  again ;  sometimes  one 
or  two  of  the  old  ladies  of  the  place  sat  down  before  the 
great  window  and  enjoyed  subdued  conversation. 

One  day  a  tall,  slow-moving  lady,  who  wore  a  per- 
petual smile,  perhaps  because  her  teeth  were  so  perfect, 
drew  her  chair  near  to  the  one  in  which  Mrs.  Maguire 
was  seated.  Her  nose  was  decorated  with  gold-rimmed 
glasses  and  she  had  a  habit  of  looking  over  them,  with 
an  expression  most  benevolent.  There  was  an  air  Of  cul- 
ture about  her,  and  her  voice  was  low  and  melodious,  an 
acoustic  boon  to  tired  nerves,  where  many  of  the  tones 
heard  were  of  the  high-keyed,  shrieky  sort,  with  gusts  of 
piercing  laughter. 

"  You  do  not  seem  to  be  enjoying  your  stay  at  Atlantic 
City,"  said  the  tall  lady,  beaming  upon  Mrs.  Maguire. 

"  I  enjoy  it  as  much  as  1  should  enjoy  any  other  place,'' 
replied  Lottie,  quietly. 

"  You  say  that  somewhat  hopelessly." 

"  I  am  in  mourning." 

"  So  I  see,  but  that  should  not  interfere  with  one's 
peace  of  mind." 

3° 


466  The  Victors 

Lottie  looked  at  the  smile  with  an  expression  of  sur- 
prise. 

"  I  have  lost  my  two  children,"  she  said  simply,  but 
with  finality  in  her  tone. 

"  Do  not  say  '  lost,'  I  beg  of  you,  dear  Mrs  Maguire. 
They  told  me  that  was  your  name,  and  I  have  been  yearn- 
ing to  speak  with  you  for  some  days.  You  don't  mind 
my  doing  so,  I  am  sure?  " 

"  You  are  very  kind,  but  I  would  rather  not — I  have 
had  so  much  attempted  consolation — as  if  anything  could 
console.  People  are  well  meaning,  but  they — they  do  not 
understand." 

"  Indeed  they  do  not.  I  quite  agree  with  you,  Mrs. 
Maguire.  But  the  dawn  has  overspread  the  east,  the 
day  is  breaking  and  the  light  will  soon  shine  over  all  the 
earth.  And  it  is  the  crowning  glory  of  our  sex  that  in 
this,  the  new  land  of  promise,  the  Christ  of  our  latter 
day  should  be  a  woman." 

The  apostle  clasped  her  hands  in  rapt  adoration,  but 
Lottie  glanced  quickly  at  her,  with  something  like  alarm 
enlarging  her  clear  eyes. 

"  I  don't  know  what  you're  talking  about:" 

"  I  was  sure  of  it,  and  I  am  so  glad  to  be  the  first  to 
bring  you  the  glorious  tidings — especially  glorious  to 
us,  the  suffering  women,  now  to  suffer  no  more. 
Doubtless  they  have  been  feeding  you  with  husks  crudely 
garnered  from  the  Bible,  as  if  that  were  food  for  the 
etherealised  minds  of  to-day.  We  have  gone  far  since 
that  book,  useful  in  its  time,  was  written,  but  now  value- 
less until  interpreted  by  the  most  divine  of  created  be- 
ings, Mary  Mason  Baker  Glover  Patterson  Eddy,  of 
Boston.  To  her  came  the  inspiration,  and  she  stands 
to-day  the  goddess  of  elucidation,  the  crown  of  true 
knowledge  on  her  glorified  brow." 

"  Are  you  speaking  of  some  new  kind  of  religion  ?  " 

"  New,  yet  forever  and  everlastingly  old — older  than 
time,  newer  than  to-morrow,  now  permitted  of  promulga- 
tion, for  their  eyes  can  see  the  light,  yes,  and  bear  it,  the 
light  shining  through  the  life  and  works  of  Mother 
Eddy,  the  seeress  of  our  closing  century,  the  chosen  of 


"  Religion  makes  a  rhapsody  of  words  "    467 

God  to  reveal  His  purpose  to  this  favoured  genera- 
tion." 

"  Perhaps,  madam,  if  you  had  been  bereaved  as  I 
have  been  bereaved,  high-sounding  vague  phrases  would 
have  brought  little  balm  to  your  crushed  heart." 

The  beaming  lady  did  not  resent  this  imputation ;  her 
smile  broadened  and  she  seemed  to  glow  across  her 
glasses  at  the  speaker. 

"  What  you  term  bereavement  has  been  my  lot  as  well 
as  yours.  Three  of  my  little  children  were  chemicalised 
within  one  week  by  what  the  world  calls  diphtheritis." 

"Chemicalised?" 

"  The  word  would  be  '  died  '  in  your  vocabulary." 

"  Three  !  How  dreadful !  Forgive  me  that  I  spoke 
as  I  did.  Was  the  physician  unable  to  do  anything  for 
them  ?  " 

"  Physician  ?  I  allowed  no  physician  to  approach 
them.  I  am  an  enlightened  woman,  and  physicians  will 
soon  be  relegated  to  the  dark  ages  to  which  they  belong. 
But  the  glory  that  came  to  me — perhaps,  however,  you 
remember  some  account  of  the  Commonwealth  versus 
LeGrue  trial  ?  " 

"  No,  I  never  heard  of  it." 

"  It  was  in  all  the  papers.     I  am  Mrs.   LeGrue." 

"  My  husband  does  not  care  for  me  to  read  the  papers, 
and  I  confess  I  have  but  little  interest  in  them." 

"  Never  mind.  I  have  it  all  in  a  pamphlet  which  I 
will  give  vou,  reported  by  our  own  stenographer,  with 
a  few  words  of  introduction  by  Mrs.  Eddy  herself.  Oh, 
I  am  favoured  among  women,  I  was  considered  fit  to 
suffer  martyrdom  for  the  faith.  The  state  indicted  me 
for  manslaughter,  but  it  found  that  iron  bars  did  not  a 
prison  make,  nor — nor — what  you  may  call  it,  a  cage." 

"  I  hope  you  were  not  imprisoned,"  said  Lottie  with 
growing  interest. 

"  No,  I  was  acquitted  triumphantly,  in  spite  of  man- 
made  laws,  a  corrupt  and  prejudiced  press,  and  an 
ignorant  biassed  judge.  This  unjust  magistrate  forbade 
my  going  on  with  the  address  I  had  prepared  for  the 
jury,  but  it  is  all  printed  in  the  pamphlet  I  mentioned, 


468  The  Victors 

and  you  shall  read  it  there.  He  said  it  had  nothing  to 
do  with  the  point  at  issue,  but  I  knew  what  the  true  issue 
was,  a  view  refused  to  his  benighted  mind.  He  thought 
they  were  trying  me.  Far  otherwise.  They  themselves 
were  on  trial,  and  this  was  but  an  opportunity  for  me  to 
make  my  testimony  heard  among"  men.'' 

"  But  surely  you  sorrowed  for  your  children  ?  " 

"  Why  should  I  ?  They  were  changed  to  the  world, 
but  not  to  me.  Sorrow  is  but  a  futile  mental  expression, 
as  pain  is  but  a  myth — an  evil  thought.  But  believe 
that  you  are  glad,  and  you  are  glad.  Matter  does  not 
exist ;  we  only  think  it  exists.  All  is  mind,  and  mind  is 
God  and  God  is  mind." 

"  I  do  not  understand  you,"  said  Lottie,  shaking  her 
head  helplessly. 

"  I  will  lend  you  my  most  precious  treasure,  Mrs. 
Eddy's  divine  book,  '  Science  and  Health/  until  you  can 
get  one  of  your  own,  which  I  am  sure  yoa  will  prize, 
by-and-by,  as  I  do  mine.  Read  it  thoughtfully,  not  try- 
ing to  comprehend  it  by  fallacious  human  understanding 
— oh,  it  is  far,  far  above  all  that — but  by  the  inner  light  of 
the  soul,  a  God-given  faculty  which  I  think  we  modern 
women  possess  in  such  a  transcendent  degree.  Then  I 
will  give  you  some  pamphlets  and  some  magazines, 
wherein  you  will  read  testimony  borne  by  those  who 
formerly  grovelled  in  darkness,  looking  toward  the  vain 
solace  of  creed  and  superstition,  but  now  rejoicing  in 
the  refulgence  of  the  mounta'n  top." 

Lottie  promised  with  little  enthusiasm  to  read  what- 
ever was  bestowed  upon  her,  and  for  some"  days  she 
struggled  with  the  new  cult,  finding,  as  Mrs.LeGrue  pre- 
dicted, that  human  understand'ng  concentrated  upon  the 
subject  was  indeed  misplaced.  But  in  some  way  the 
reading  fascinated  her,  and  she  persevered  at  it,  finally 
obtaining  from  Boston  an  express  package  of  books  which 
the  smiling  lady  recommended  to  her.  In  like  manner 
her  acquaintance  with  the  eloquent  Mrs.  LeGrue  flour- 
ished, and  the  big  woman  seemed  to  exercise  a  hyp- 
notic influence  over  her.  The  dislike  Lottie  had  at 
first  entertained  for  the  woman  vanished,  and  they 


'  Religion  makes  a  rhapsody  of  words  "  469 

were  always  to  be  found  together  during  Maguire's 
frequent  absences.  They  sat  side  by  side  in  the  drawing- 
room,  or  promenaded  along  the  Board  Walk  absorbed 
in  conversation.  Lottie's  sadness  fell  away  from  her, 
and  she  became  once  more  the  cheerful,  contented  person 
she  had  previously  been.  This  change  delighted  her 
husband,  and  when  she  attributed  it  all  to  Christian 
Science,  he  blessed  Christian  Science.  Willingly  he 
undertook  to  read  Mrs.  Eddy's  "  Science  and  Health," 
an  expensive  volume  covered  with  limp  leather,  a  palpa- 
ble imitation  of  that  triumph  of  book-making,  the  Oxford 
Bible,  as  its  contents  were  an  imitation  of  a  religion. 
The  print  was  large,  and  Maguire  struggled  through  it  on 
the  train  coming  from  and  going  to  New  York.  He  also 
perused  the  pamphlets  and  the  magazines.  He  could 
devour  a  great  deal  of  reading  matter  when  he  tried,  and 
his  mind  was  quick  to  grasp  the  gist  of  an  argument,  but 
the  logic  of  Christian  Science  baffled  him  and  scored  his 
brow  with  perplexity. 

"  Did  they  teach  Christian  Sc:ence  in  your  college, 
John  ?  "  he  asked  the  Mayor  one  day,  finding  him  alone 
in  his  office. 

"  Never  heard  of  it.     What  is  it  ?  " 
"  That's  what  I  thought  you'd  tell  me,  perhaps." 
"  I   know   something  of   Christianity — in  theory — and 
had   a  smattering  of   science   in   practice,  but   the   com- 
bination is  new  to  me." 

"  Well,  I've  been  studying  it  of  late.  It's  a  great 
thing — religion  with  an  elevator  and  all  modern  improve- 
ments. According  to  it,  everything's  just  like  the  mug- 
wumps ;  you  hear  a  lot  about  them,  but  you  can't  find 
them  when  you  come  to  count  the  votes.  I'm  not  much 
on  new  religions  myself;  seems  to  me  I'd  rather  trust 
the  old  roads  when  I  try  to  get  to  heaven ;  they've  been 
longer  at  it  and  they  ought  to  know  the  way.  Still,  I 
dunno.  Why  couldn't  we  have  the  latest  inventions  in 
religion  as  in  anything  else?  Our  grandfathers  were 
contented  with  the  stage-coach,  and  our  fathers  rid  on  a 
slow  freight,  but  we  like  the  limited,  and  a  dollar  for  a 
chair  in  the  parlour  car." 


47o  The  Victors 

"  What  are  *he  principles  of  this  new  fad  ?  " 

"  Well,  now,  you  get  me  there,  John.  When  I  started 
reading  that  book — it's  writ  by  a  woman  with  a  powerful 
flow  of  language — I  said  to  myself  either  this  lady  ought 
to  be  in  some  nice  comfortable  lunatic  asylum,  or  I  should 
be  wearing  a  strait  jacket,  I  dunno  just  which,  but  I  saw 
we  had  no  business  communing  together.  Our  minds 
weren't  built  on  the  same  interchangeable  system  at  all, 
at  all.  I  can  understand  the  New  York  Try-bune — at 
least  I  know  what  the  boys  think  they're  trying  to  say, 
but  this  book  ov  Mary  Jane's  is  beyond  me.  However 
that  may  be,  Christian  Science  is  getting  to  be  a  great 
organisation,  John !  I'm  on  to  that  part  of  it.  When 
they're  looking  after  their  souls,  they're  not  neglecting 
good  hard  cash  for  their  bodies,  and  that  makes  me 
think  there's  some  inspiration  in  the  thing  after  all. 
They've  got  branches  everywhere  and  millions  of 
members,  and  they  see  that  the  contribution  box  doesn't 
fall  to  pieces  for  lack  of  use.  They  can  cure  any  mortal 
thing  that's  the  matter  with  you  by  just  sending  a 
thought  message  over  an  invisible  wire  that  doesn't 
charge  any  toll,  and  that  without  any  medicine  or  any 
expensive  going  to  college.  That's  a  great  thing,  John. 
It's  tough  on  the  drug  stores,  but  lucrative  for  the  Chris- 
tian Science  nobs,  for  they  charge  as  much  as  a  regular 
doctor,  and  insist  on  their  money  in  greenbacks,  and  not 
in  thought  currency  like  the  treatment,  which  shows  their 
own  good  sense,  whatever  it  says  for  their  patients' 
understanding.  Begobs,  John,  if  we  could  work  that 
racket  on  elections  there  would  be  no  need  of  a  campaign 
fund,  or  a  deal  with  the  virtuous  republican  party.  We'd 
just  sit  here  and  thought-wave  the  hoodlums  along  Fifth 
Avenue  to  vote  for  us." 

"  Then  I  gather  you  don't  believe  in  Christian  Science, 
Pat?" 

"  I  don't  get  enough  out  of  the  book  to  believe  or  dis- 
believe. I  dunno  what  she's  driving  at  half  the  time. 
It  reads  like  an  editorial  in  the  Evening  Post  mixed  up 
with  one  from  the  Morning  Journal,  all  conglomerated 
with  a  milkshake  machine.  But  the  dollars  and  cents 


"  Religion  makes  a  rhapsody  of  words"    471 

part  of  the  show  which  I  get  out  of  the  magazine  and  the 
pamphlet  is  plain  sailing.  There's  no  be-gob  nonsense 
about  that.  And  it's  quite  in  line  with  the  genius  of  the 
time.  When  Jesus  Christ  was  crucified  there  was  only 
His  clothing  to  cast  lots  for.  When  the  promoter  of 
Christian  Science  croaks  they'll  be  millions  to  divide." 


BOOK  VI 

ON    THE   SUMMIT 
CHAPTER   I 

"  I    AM     COME    TO    FETCH    YOU     HOME  " 

THERE  is  a  stability  of  debt  as  well  as  a  stability  of 
resource.  A  man  may  become  so  heavily  involved  that 
his  creditors  dare  not  let  him  sink.  They  stand  to  lose 
everything  if  he  goes  down,  whereas  if  they  sustain 
him  he  may  pull  through.  It  had  reached  this  pass  with 
McAllister  when  the  cheque  of  Grace  Van  Ness  came 
into  his  possession.  He  had  little  to  fear  from  those  to 
whom  he  owed  the  most  money ;  it  was  the  smaller  cred- 
itors who  were  pressing  him,  and  any  one  of  them  at  any 
moment  might  wreck  him  if  no  funds  were  available  for 
immediate  liquidation  of  claims.  It  is  possible  that  one 
or  other  of  the  more  important  firms  with  which  he  dealt 
might  even  have  supplied  him  with  money  besides  trust- 
ing him  further  with  goods,  but  to  make  such  application 
would  have  been  tantamount  to  a  confession  of  failure ; 
it  was  a  desperate  remedy,  to  be  tried  only  when  the 
patient  was  in  extremis. 

Monro's  unexpected  opposition  to  the  cashing  of  the 
cheque  seemed  like  the  refusal  of  a  life-buoy  by  a  drown- 
ing man.  The  further  threat  of  withdrawal  if  the  only 
money  available  was  made  use  of  brought  McAllister 
to  the  verge  of  a  nervous  collapse.  For  the  first  time 
iu  his  energetic  life  he  became  thoroughlv  disheartened, 
and  sat  with  arms  on  the  table  and  his  head  bowed  upon 
them,  not  knowing  what  to  do,  scarcely  capable  of  con- 
nected thought.  He  felt  that  he  could  not  go  on  if 
Monro  deserted  him,  yet  disaster  confronted  him  if 
472 


11  I  am  come  to  fetch  you  home  "      473 

some  thousands  of  dollars  were  not  instantly  forth- 
coming. He  had  reached  no  conclusion,  when  at  last 
the  door  opened.  Monro  entered,  hung  up  his  hat  in  its 
usual  place  and  sat  down  at  his  desk  without  a  word.  A 
glance  at  his  jaded  face  showed  McAllister  that  his  part- 
ner also  had  been  passing  through  a  crisis. 

"  Jim — Jim,  old  man,  you — you  couldn't  have  meant 
what  you  said,"  ventured  the  senior  member  in  a  falter- 
ing voice. 

"  I  did  at  the  time,  Ben ;  I  don't  now,  I  made  a  mis- 
take. If  you're  willing  to  let  it  go  at  that,  I  am.'' 

"  But,  Jim — how  about  the  cheque  ?  " 

"  The  cheque?  Well,  I  guess  the  best  thing  is  to  cash 
it.  That's  what  it  was  written  for,  I  suppose." 

Ben  jumped  up,  grasped  the  hand  of  his  friend,  tried 
to  speak,  but  could  not,  then  flung  his  hat  on  his  head 
and  fled. 

Monro  had  once  complained  of  the  numerous  stormy 
capes  the  firm  had  been  compelled  to  weather,  but  it 
seemed  after  this  final  promontory  was  shaved  they  were 
at  last  on  the  open  sea,  with  the  wind  as  they  wanted  it. 
When  prosperity  came,  it  came  with  a  rush,  and  debts 
dissolved  before  it  like  hillocks  of  sand  in  a  rising  tide. 
Creditors  who  had  been  insistent  became  now  most 
gracious  when  their  forbearance  was  no  longer  needed, 
and  those  who,  through  fear,  had  been  lenient  said  they 
always  knew  McAllister  was  a  remarkable  business  man  ; 
they  had  selected  him  for  a  winner  from  the  very  starting 
post.  You  will  find  a  hundred  men  in  New  York  to-day 
who  gave  McAllister  his  chance  in  life,  who  are  the 
founders  of  his  fortune,  who  recognised  his  ability  long 
before  any  one  else  noticed  it,  who  said,  "  Mark  my 
words,  that  young  man  will  succeed/'  when  the  rest  of 
New  York  was  doubtfully  shaking  its  head. 

Prosperity  made  no  difference  in  the  bearing  of  Mc- 
Allister. He  had  been  so  optimistic  in  failure  that  he 
could  hardly  be  more  so  in  success,  and  there  was  no 
reason  that  he  should  become  less  confident.  He  had 
been  so  sure  of  the  future  that  the  actual  possession  of 
an  ever-increasing  income  merely  gave  tangibility  to  a 


474  The  Victors 

realm  of  wealth  he  had  always  occupied  in  imagination. 
When  necessity  compelled  him  to  move  into  cheaper  and 
cheaper  premises,  so  far  as  his  home  was  concerned,  if  a 
place  frequented  so  seldom  could  be  designated  home,  his 
happy  disposition  showed  the  reason  of  removal  to  be 
invariably  the  greater  healthfulness  of  the  situation. 
Wherever  McAllister  happened  to  be  living  at  the 
moment  was  the  exact  place  he  would  have  chosen  had 
he  been  ten  times  a  millionaire.  The  fact  that  it  hap- 
pened to  be  an  economical  residence  was  a  mere  accident. 
He  moved  up  the  ladder  of  opulence  as  cheerfully  as  he 
had  gone  down.  A  man  must  learn  by  experience,  he 
said ;  he  had  tried  the  remote  districts  and  found  them 
wanting.  He  came  to  rest  in  a  superb  suite  of  rooms 
in  an  expensive  hotel  on  Fifth  Avenue,  and  that  seemed 
for  a  t'me  the  acme  of  bliss. 

The  resolution  to  build  a  house  formulated  itself  in 
his  mind  one  day,  and  the  architect  was  at  work  the  next. 
McAllister  intended  this  residence  to  be  success  made 
visible  in  stone ;  a  magnificent  birthday  present  to  his 
wife ;  a  kind  of  testimonial  showing  his  appreciation  of 
her  common  sense  in  marrying  so  potent  a  man.  He 
inquired  for  an  hour  or  so  into  the  merits  of  various 
architects,  selected  his  man,  flung  before  him  a  few  ideas 
that  he  wished  carried  out,  and  left  the  rest  to  the  artist 
he  had  chosen.  Consequently  he  achieved  a  notable 
dwelling.  He  furnished  the  mansion  on  somewhat  the 
same  principle,  going  always  to  the  expert,  and  generally 
accepting  his  advice.  He  did  not  think  much  of  the 
paintings  purchased  on  his  behalf,  but  he  had  a  New 
York  man's  respect  for  their  price.  He  would  have  pre- 
ferred something  more  in  the  style  of  the  popular 
chromo ;  a  picture  should  tell  a  story,  he  thought,  and 
the  more  moral  the  story  the  better  the  picture.  How- 
ever, painting  was  not  in  his  line ;  technique  was  doubt- 
less a  good  thing  to  have  about  the  place,  and  if  so,  it 
was  well  to  get  the  best  in  the  market,  no  matter  what 
the  cost.  Theoretically  the  house  and  its  belongings 
should  have  been  an  object  lesson  in  bad  taste,  but  it  was 
actually  a  triumph,  for  he  had  gone  in  each  instance  to 


l<  I  am  come  to  fetch  you  home  "      475 

the  man  who  knew,  usually  accepting  educated  opinion, 
even  when  it  conflicted  with  his  own  ideas. 

Constance  had  long  ago  given  up  all  hope  that  her 
husband  would  ever  remember  any  of  their  anniversaries. 
Their  wedding  day  came  and  went  unnoticed.  If  he 
thought  of  it  a  week  later,  or  of  her  birthday  a  month 
after  it  was  past,  he  bought  a  belated  present,  always 
a  little  more  expensive  than  he  could  rightly  afford  at 
the  moment.  His  deep  regard  for  her  was  thus  easy 
to  demonstrate  with  a  pencil  and  a  bit  of  paper;  deeds 
speak  louder  than  words — sometimes.  He  would  do 
anything  in  the  world  for  his  wife,  except  take  a  day  off 
from  his  business ;  but  then  the  business  was  all  for  her. 
and  so  it  came  to  the  same  thing,,  as  she  would  have  seen 
if  she  had  been  deft  at  mathematics. 

It  therefore  filled  her  with  surprise  when  on  her  birth- 
day he  came  to  the  hotel  quite  unexpectedly,  and  an- 
nounced that  in  honour  of  the  event  they  would  take  a 
drive  together ;  he  had  a  carriage  and  pair  waiting  at  the 
front.  Constance  went  with  him,  and  they  drove  up  the 
avenue,  around  the  park  for  a  while,  and  out  again,  and 
so  to  the  new  residence. 

"  Let's  go  in  here,  Constance,"  he  said  in  an  offhand 
way. 

"  Oh,  no,  please.    I  don't  want  to  visit  any  one  to-day." 

"  Come  along,  Connie.  You'll  like  the  folks  in  this 
house.  They're  good  people." 

"  Indeed,  Ben,  I'd  rather  not.  I'm  not  dressed  for 
calling.  I  thought-  you  were  just  going  for  a  drive." 

Ben  laughed  good-naturedly.  He  was  accustomed  to 
implicit  obedience  from  every  one ;  it  was  a  matter  of 
course;  and  he  exacted  it  much  more  ruthlessly  than  he 
had  any  idea  of,  brushing  aside  the  prejudices  or  objec- 
tions of  others  as  if  he,  of  necessity,  must  know  best,  but 
he  did  it  all  with  an  intention  so  evidently  kindhearted 
that  he  seldom  met  contradiction.  Before  Constance 
could  make  further  protest  he  was  out  of  the  carriage 
holding  forth  his  hand  to  assist  her.  She,  partly  from 
the  habit  of  assenting  to  anything  he  proposed,  partly 
fearing  that  the  good  people  inside  to  whom  he  had 


476  The  Victors 

referred  might  be  witnessing  her  hesitation,  descended, 
and  together  they  went  up  the  steps.  The  door  was 
flung  open  before  he  could  ring,  and  they  walked  into 
the  .mansion  side  by  side.  The  entrance  hall  was  in  it- 
self an  apartment  of  magnitude,  the  comparatively  low 
timbered  ceiling  seeming  to  increase  its  actual  area. 

A  chimney  stood  like  a  huge  pillar  of  brick  in  the 
centre,  with  a  fireplace  on  either  side ;  one  opposite  the 
front  door,  the  other  facing  the  rear  of  the  room. 

Ben  led  his  wife  to  the  drawing-room  at  the  right,  and 
she  wondered  why  the  uniformed  servant  who  opened 
the  door  did  not  direct  them. 

"  There,  Connie,  what  do  you  think  of  this  place  ?  The 
paintings  alone  cost — "  . 

"  Hush,  Ben,"  she  whispered,  "  don't  speak  so  loud." 

"Why?" 

"  Because  the  hostess  may  hear  you." 

"  Hostess  ?    The  hostess  does  hear  me." 

"  Well,  then,  all  the  more  reason — " 

"  The  hostess  is  in  this  room,  Connie." 

Mrs.  McAllister  looked  at  him,  an  added  pallor  coming 
to  her  pale  face. 

"  What  do  you  mean,  Ben?  " 

"  This  house  is  yours." 

"  Have  you  rented  it?  " 

"  Not  likely." 

"  You  haven't  bought  it,  surely?  " 

"  Bought  it?     Not  by  a  long'  shot.     I  built  it." 

For  a  moment  she  swayed  slightly  and  put  her  hand 
against  the  artistic  mantelpiece  to  steady  herself.  Her 
eyes  closed  and  she  seemed  scarcely  to  breathe,  looking 
almost  as  if  she  had  been  one  of  the  marble  figures  that 
had  been  purchased  for  him  in  Italy.  McAllister 
chuckled  as  he  saw  these  signs  of  suppressed  emotion,  a 
broad  grin  brightening  his  face;  the  surprise  had  been 
complete,  almost  overpowering. 

"  Come  along,  Connie,  and  I'll  show  you  the  house. 
I  tell  you  what  it  is,  girl,  the  architects  of  our  day  beat 
the  world.  There  is  an  individuality  about  their  work 
that  is  admirable  and  distinctive.  I've  been  more  than 


"  I  am  come  to  fetch  you  home  "      477 

pleased  with  what  this  man  has  done  for  me.  The  only 
thing  we  quarrelled  about  was  an  elevator.  I  wanted 
an  elevator  facing  the  door  where  that  chimney  is.  He 
wouldn't  have  it ;  said  he'd  chuck  up  the  job  if  I  insisted, 
so  I  gave  way  to  him.  But  I  got  the  better  of  him  on 
telephones.  I  told  him  I  had  to  have  a  telephone  in 
every  room,  so  that  I  shouldn't  need  to  run  down  to  the 
hall  each  time  the  Central  rung  me  up.  He  didn't  like 
that  idea  a  little  bit,  but  when  he  saw  I  was  determined 
he  sat  up  nights  scheming  concealments  for  them.  Now, 
Connie,  I'll  bet  you  a  new  hat  you  can't  find  the  tele- 
phone in  this  room." 

The  lady  looked  about  her,  and,  discovering  no  signs 
of  the  instrument,  shook  her  head. 

"  You've  lost  the  hat.  Why,  it's  in  that  writing  desk. 
You  lift  the  lid,  which  automatically  rings  up  the  Central, 
and  there  you  are.  You  close  the  lid,  which  rings  off, 
and  then  you  have  a  writing  desk  again.  I  tell  you  what 
it  is,  Connie,  I'm  going  to  have  a  telephone  rigged  up 
on  the  dining  table,  so  I  can  talk  to  the  office  without 
leaving  my  chair;  wire  concealed  in  the  leg  of  the  table.'' 

Constance  followed  him  from  suite  to  suite,  from 
room  to  room.  It  was  all  admirable,  luxurious  and  con- 
venient to  the  last  degree ;  marble,  silver  fittings,  auto- 
matic devices,  rare  natural  woods,  everything  complete 
to  the  most  minute  detail. 

"  Well,  Connie,  what  do  you  think  of  it?  Wonderful, 
isn't  it?" 

"  It's  more  than  wonderful." 

"  I  knew  you  would  say  that.  Yes,  Con,  there's 
nothing  of  the  log  cabin  about  this  place.  Well,  I'll  just 
cut  down  to  the  hotel  and  tell  them  to  send  up  all  our 
things.  I  must  skip  now."  He  glanced  at  his  watch. 
"  Gee  whiz !  I've  lost  two  hours  and  a  quarter !  Don't 
matter ;  it's  all  in  a  lifetime.  Ta,  ta,  Con.  If  you  don't 
see  what  you  want,  ring  for  it.  I  may  be  home  late ; 
don't  wait  up." 

The  Alladin  of  the  Wonderful  Lamp  was  gone,  but 
the  Palace  remained. 

As  McAllister  had  predicted,  he  was  late  in  getting 


478  The  Victors 

home  that  night ;  the  two  hours  and  a  quarter  lost  on 
his  wife's  birthday  took  a  good  deal  of  catching  up, 
which  shows  the  necessity  of  seizing  the  flying  moment 
while  it  is  on  the  wing.  He  was  even  later  than  he 
intended,  because  he  forgot  all  about  the  new  house  and 
went  direct  to  the  hotel.  The  elevator  man  said  in  sur- 
prise : 

"  Why,  Mr.  McAllister,  I  thought  you  moved  out  to- 
day." 

"  Gee  smoke !  So  I  did.  No,  I  won't  go  up  with  you. 
I'll  go  up  the  avenue  instead." 

He  hailed  a  cab,  and  wondered  for  a  moment  if  the 
new  house  would  be  as  handy  as  the  hotel,  after  all. 

A  very  thin  latch-key  opened  the  verv  thick  door,  and 
McAllister  stood  in  his  own  hall.  He  laughed  quietly 
to  himself  as  he  remembered  that  in  his  hurry  to  be  gone 
he  had  not  indicated  to  his  wife  the  suite  of  rooms  they 
were  to  occupy,  and  lie  wondered  now  which  she  had 
chosen.  He  would  soon  discover.  .  Each  door,  a  triumph 
of  mechanism,  opened  noiselessly  to  his  touch,  lighting 
an  electric  cluster  as  it  swung,  a  silent  torch-bearer  to  his 
progress.  As  he  advanced  from  one  untenanted  cham- 
ber to  another,  the  stillness  of  the  house  began  to  impress 
him  with  a  feeling  of  strange  loneliness.  The  indefin- 
able spirit  of  human  presence  had  not  yet  permeated  this 
newly  created  body ;  the  house  was  still  an  architectural 
Galatea,  lacking  life's  light  zephyr.  The  hand  of  caprice 
had  moved  no  article  of  furniture  since  the  man  from  the 
warehouse  had  placed  it  with  calculated  precision.  The 
rooms  retained  the  stiffness  of  the  show  window,  want'ng 
only  the  list  price  in  plain  figures  on  a  broad  white  card. 

At  last  on  an  empty  bed  his  eye  caught  a  contrast  of 
colour;  a  black  silk  handkerchief  was  spread  on  the 
snowy  counterpane,  and  a  square  white  envelope  lay  on 
the  silk,  black  on  white,  white  on  black,  an  admirable  ar- 
rangement for  attracting  attention ;  and  thus  he  regarded 
it,  forgetting  that  in  his  poverty  days  he  had  given  that 
handkerchief  to  the  girl  he  was  to  marry,  a  costlier  gift 
than  the  house,  for  its  purchase  nearly  bankrupted  his 
resources.  Now  house  and  handkerchief  were  his  again. 


"  I  am  come  to  fetch  you  home  "      479 

McAllister  snatched  up  the  envelope  addressed  to  him 
and  tore  it  open.  The  enclosed  letter  was  very  long,  he 
noticed  that,  and  in  spite  of  his  increasing  vague  un- 
easiness there  flashed  across  his  brain  that  feeling  of  an- 
noyance which  always  came  to  him  when  he  was  com- 
pelled to  read  a  communication  that  was  not  typewritten. 
He  sat  down  on  the  edge  of  the  vacant  bed,  the  soft  rays 
of  the  electric  light  subdued  through  opaline  glass  illu- 
mining the  numerous  closely  written  pages. 

DEAR  BEN — What  a  testimony  it  is  to  the  completeness 
of  this  house  that  I  find  here  in  my  need  the  very  ink, 
pen  and  paper  with  which  to  write  to  you,  and  that 
without  even  the  necessity  of  ringing,  as  you  suggested. 
Each  sheet  has  the  street  and  number  engraved  on  it  in 
just  the  style  I  should  have  chosen  if  I  had  had  the 
selecting  of  it. 

You  may  well  be  proud  of  your  achievement,  for  into 
this  mansion  must  have  gone  much  of  that  marvellous 
power  which  you  possess — the  power  of  carrying  on  to 
success  any  project  you  make  up  your  mind  to  accom- 
plish. But  I  could  not  help  thinking  as  I  followed  you 
through  these  rooms  to-day  that  if  this  house  is  a  monu- 
ment to  your  business  ability  it  is  also  typical  of  our 
married  life,  for  there  is  not  within  its  extensive  compass 
one  article  of  furniture,  one  book,  one  picture,  no,  not 
even  a  shelf  in  a  china  closet,  of  which  I  could  say,  "  I 
have  had  that  put  in,  not  because  it  is  artistic,  or  of  the 
newest  design,  or  expensive,  but  simply  because  I  wanted 
it  so."  ("  Good  gracious,  is  the  woman  jealous  of  her 
own  house?") 

You  will  have  guessed  before  you  read  this  far  that 
I  am  writing  you  a  farewell  letter — that  I  am  leaving 
you — deserting — that  is  the  word,  and  what  a  treach- 
erous, repulsive  sound  it  has ! 

("Merciful  God!  She  can't  mean  that!  What  have 
I  done?  What  have  I  left  un — ") 

But  I  think  we  have  both  reason  to  be  thankful  that 
matters  are  no  worse  between  us,  for  I  assure  you,  Ben, 
little  as  you  ever  suspected  it,  there  were  times  in  the 


480  The  Victors 

early  days  when  my  despair  led  me  to  the  brink  of  leav- 
ing not  only  you,  but  all  the  world  beside. 

("  Well,  of  all  amazing — What  HAVE  /  done?"} 

Ben,  why,  why,  why,  did  you  ever  marry  me?  I'm 
not  the  kind  of  woman  you  needed.  How  often  and 
often  I  have  asked  myself  what  fatality  led  you  to 
choose  me,  and  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was 
because  you  knew  no  other;  that  you  made  the  mistake 
so  many  men  make  of  marrying  too  young,  before  they 
know  their  own  minds. 

I  have  seen  the  lady  who  should  have  been  your  wife ; 
have  watched  her  drive  in  the  park — have  met  her  walk- 
ing up  the  avenue. 

.("  That's  it!  I  might  have  known  there  was  a  woman 
at  the  bottom  of  this.  Me,  of  all  tnen!  Oh,  Connie, 
Connie^-"*) 

There  are  hundreds  of  them  in  this  pride-ridden  city ; 
the  wives  of  successful  business  men,  advertising  the 
riches  of  their  husbands  by  the  clothes  they  wear;  by  the 
equipages  they  drive  in. 

("Oh,  it's  not  that  then.") 

You  should  have  a  wife  who  would  dress  superbly ; 
who  would  never  wear  the  same  gown  twice ;  a  woman 
of  whom  men  would  say,  "  How  much  money  her 
husband  must  make  to  be  able  to  deck  her  out  in  such 
jewels ; "  a  modiste's  model  and  as  soulless ;  who  valued 
a  kind  word  not  at  all,  and  a  cheque  only  for  the  figures 
written  upon  it ;  in  short,  a  woman  with  no  heart  to  ache 
at  a  husband's  neglect. 

("  Neglect!     As  if  I  hadn't  slaved  and — ") 

"  Ring  for  what  you  want,"  said  you  as  you  rushed 
away  to  overtake  your  lost  two  hours.  There  isn't  a 
wire  in  th's  grand  house  that  could  carry  rny  message; 
there  isn't  a  servant  but  would  think  me  demented  if  I 
said,  "  I  want  my  husband,  and  I  want  him  only."  Al- 
though I  felt  myself  hardening  and  hardening  as  the 
companionless  years  went  by,  there  was  always  a  linger- 
ing hope  that  you  would  say  at  last,  "  Now  I  have  a  day, 
a  week,  to  spend  with  you."  As  your  income  increased 
and  increased,  so  grew  the  desire  to  add  still  more  to  it, 


"  I  am  come  to  fetch  you  home  "      481 

Never  will  the  huge  establishment  on  Sixth  Avenue  be 
large  enough  to  contain  your  ambitions.  I  saw  that  at 
last,  and  when  hope  died  I  made  my  preparations  for 
leaving  you.  You  will  lose  two  hours  no  more  on  my 
account. 

("  Hozv  she  harps  on  that.  It  was  two  hours  and  a 
quarter.  Words  everything;  actions  nothing,  in  a 
woman's  estimation.") 

I  had  made  complete  preparation  for  my  departure 
when  you  came  in  so  unexpectedly  and  proposed  a  drive 
in  the  park.  My  heart  almost  stopped.  Could  it  be  pos- 
sible that  God  had  led  me  to  this  resolution,  only  to  show 
me  how  mistaken  I  had  been  in  my  estimate  of  you  ?  A 
drive  through  the  park  in  the  middle  of  a  business  day ! 
Two  hours  expended  on  me !  Incredible ! 

("  Curse  those  two  hours!  I  wish  I  hadn't  mentioned 
them.") 

I  was  nearly  speechless  between  hope  and  fear,  but 
I  soon  saw  that  you  did  not  notice  my  agitation.  Your 
effigy  sat  beside  me  in  the  carriage,  but  your  mind  had 
never  left  Sixth  Avenue.  Lines  of  preoccupation  were 
on  your  brow,  dial-marks  of  minutes  being  lost.  You 
saw  nothing  of  the  park,  with  its  imitation  lakes,  its  imi- 
tation hills  and  dales,  its  imitation  vistas,  bogus  from 
gate  to  gate ;  no  wonder  New  York  is  proud  of  it ; 
scenery  built  to  scale;  its  motto,  "Keep  off  the  grass." 
And  as  I  sat  as  silent  as  yourself,  I  read  your  life  by  the 
lines  on  your  brow  as  a  gipsy  reads  the  palm.  I  saw  you 
old  before  your  time;  all  faculty  for  any  rational  enjoy- 
ment of  life  burned  away  before  you  were  middle-aged ; 
rich  without  a  healthful  nerve  left  in  your  body ;  a  man 
who  had  rushed  to  the  bank-counter  of  his  Maker  de- 
manding that  his  life  be  discounted  and  paid  cash  down 
instantly ;  willing,  eager  to  sacrifice  twenty,  thirty,  forty 
years  of  it,  for  ten  condensed  years,  now,  on  the  nail. 
Then  the  final  settlement,  catching  you  doubtless  at  the 
busiest  time,  stricken  dead  at  your  telephone. 

("  Whew!  I  had  no  idea  Connie  could  write  like 
that!  How  a  woman  exaggerates!  Unfair  too — ") 

The  galvanised   resuscitation  of  hope  was  past;   its 


482  The  Victors 

ghost  troubled  me  no  mure  until  we  came  to  the  new 
house  and  found  ourselves  within  it.  When  you  told  me 
it  was  mine  I  nearly  swooned.  Here  at  least  was  the 
semblance  of  a  home ;  a  much  more  humble  one  would 
have  contented  me  if  my  husband  had  said,  "  Constance, 
I  have  made  enough.  This  is  the  culmination  of  my  ef- 
forts. Here  we  will  live  together  and  grow  old  together. 
You  shall  deck  it  forth  to  please  you,  and  I  shall  be  at 
your  side  while  you  are  doing  it.  We  will  let  others 
look  after  the  wants  of  the  public ;  we  shall  attend  to  our 
own." 

("  Merciful  Heaven,  how  little  she  knows  of  the  needs 
of  a  great  business!  Others!  !  !  ") 

But  no.  It  was  "  Con,  I  have  lost  two  hours.  Don't 
wait  up  for  me."  The  building  of  the  house  marked  no 
change  in  the  living  of  our  lives.  I  realised  that  nothing 
but  the  building  of  a  tomb  and  the  occupying  of  it  could 
do  that.  No  gravestone,  even  in  this  age,  bears  the  epi- 
taph "  Sacred  to  the  memory  of  Ten  Millions,"  with  the 
dollar  mark  in  place  of  the  cross,  yet  that  is  the  sort  of 
memorial  so  many  seem  to  be  working  for.  I  have  no 
such  ambition,  and  so  I  quit  the  turmoil.  I  did  not  de- 
sert you  while  you  were  struggling,  for  I  could  not  bear 
to  add  another  straw  to  the  burden  you  carried  for  so 
many  years,  and  I  knew  that,  little  as  I  was  able  to  do  for 
you,  my  going  away  would  have  caused  you  trouble  and 
worry.  Now  it  is  different.  You  have  the  income  of  a 
prince,  and  if  you  search  for  me,  which  I  beg  of  you  not 
to  do,  it  will  merely  mean  the  drawing  of  a  cheque  and 
the  obtaining  of  the  best  detective  aid  that  money  can 
procure.  You  have  few  friends  who  will  be  scandalised 
by  my  action,  and  I  have  none,  but  as  you  would  be  an- 
noyed by  columns  of  newspaper  conjecture,  I  advise  you 
to  say  nothing  of  my  departure,  and  above  all  not  to 
employ  detectives.  What  is  done  concerns  only  you  and 
me,  and  I  assure  you  that  publicity  will  injure  your  busi- 
ness. 

("  She  thinks  this  is  the  one  argument  that  will  appeal 
to  me,  yet  I  would — ") 

The  law  will  lightly  relieve  you  of  the  bonds  you  so 


"  I  am  come  to  fetch  you  home  "      483 

foolishly  assumed  before  you  were  aware  of  the  prizes 
the  world  had  in  store  for  you.  I  know  that  a  good 
woman  would  have  sat  down  in  one  of  those  luxurious 
chairs  and  wept  before  taking  such  a  step  as  I  am  about 
to  take,  but  I  assure  you  I  leave  this  house  as  dry-eyed  as 
I  entered  it.  I  seem  to  have  passed  the  weeping  stage. 
I  think  the  Midas  touch  of  New  York  is  already  metalis- 
ing  my  heart,  but  I  hope  I  flee  from  it  in  time. 

CONSTANCE. 

McAllister  had  dropped  sheet  after  sheet  on  the  floor 
as  he  read ;  now  he  picked  them  up  one  by  one  and  laid 
them  on  the  empty  bed.  He  walked  slowly  up  and  down 
the  room  with  bowed  head,  the  weight  of  years  on  his 
bent  shoulders ;  then  as  if  newly  feeling  his  burden  he 
sat  down  on  a  soft  armchair  whose  rich  upholstery  sank 
under  him.  Here  he  remained  marking  thoughts  off 
on  his  fingers.  Now  and  then  his  brow  wrinkled  upward 
and  he  whistled  low  and  tunelessly,  for  he  had  no  ear  for 
music.  The  electric  lights  seemed  to  become  dim,  and 
grey  day  began  to  compete  through  the  pane.  He  no- 
ticed nothing  until  he  was  startled  by  a  subdued  rap  on 
the  door. 

"  Come  in,"  he  shouted,  not  knowing  where  he  was. 

A  servant  stood  in  the  doorway. 

"  What  time  would  you  like  breakfast,  sir  ?  " 

"  Breakfast  ?  Oh,  yes,  breakfast.  Why,  I  don't  know. 
What  time  do  we  usually  have  it  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know,  sir.  Mrs.  McAllister  said  you  would 
want  to  be  at  the  office  by  eight." 

"  Oh,  yes,  of  course.  Quite  right,  quite  right.  Well, 
any  time  you're  ready  I  am." 

"  Thank  you,  sir." 

"  Here,  I  say !  Hold  on  a  moment  For  one,  you 
know.  Mrs.  McAllister — well,  she's  staying  with  friends 
— not  ready  for  her  just  yet — house  too  new." 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  And,  say !  Tell  the  cook  to  make  me  some  strong 
coffee.  Strong  and  black,  you  know." 

"  Yes,  sir." 


CHAPTER    II 

"DESPATCH  ALL  BUSINESS  AND  BEGONE" 

FAITH  is  a  good  stimulant,  but  a  man  may  have  too 
much  of  it,  and  then  it  becomes  a  heavy  blind. ng 
draught,  obscuring  the  vision  and  dimming  the  breakers 
ahead.  There  was  one  factor  in  business  life  of  which 
McAllister  took  no  account,  and  that  was  the  ever-recur- 
ring commercial  panic.  He  thought  that  if  he  built  his 
house  upon  a  rock  that  house  would  endure,  once  he  got 
the  roof  on.  His  trading  had  become  so  remunerative 
that  there  seemed  no  reason  why  it  should  not  continue 
so,  as  long  as  he  had  the  health  and  strength  to  direct  it. 
The  very  size  of  his  enterprise  was  in  its  favour,  for  its 
momentum  and  weight  crushed  obstacles  that  would  have 
baffled  or  stopped  a  smaller  concern;  but  he  forgot  that 
the  bigger  the  barn  the  more  surface  it  exposes  to  the 
wind  when  a  cyclone  comes. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  know  how  many  men  have 
been  ruined  by  building  a  house  several  sizes  too  large 
for  them ;  how  many  men  have  been  dashed  on  the  rocks 
by  the  breaking  wave  of  prosperity  on  which  they  had 
so  buoyantly  floated.  McAllister's  mansion  had  been 
completed  in  the  last  year  of  a  feverishly  speculative 
period.  Everybody  was  building  something;  railways, 
sky-reaching  business  blocks,  towns  and  what  not. 
Material  of  all  kinds  was  at  its  dearest  point ;  labour  was 
expensive  and  scarce,  the  very  rock  which  had  been 
blasted  for  its  cellars  had  cost  more  than  if  it  had  been 
gold-bearing  quartz.  Yet  when  the  building  was  nearly 
finished  he  could  have  sold  house  and  lot  for  fifty  per 
cent,  more  than  he  had  expended  on  them. 

A  year  later  he  could  hardly  have  given  the  place 
away,  and  as  for  selling  it,  people  would  have  thought 
484 


"  Despatch  all  business  and  begone  "     485 

him  mad  for  entertaining  such  an  idea.  The  project  had 
involved  much  greater  outlay  than  even  he  had  antici- 
pated at  the  outset.  He  had  drawn  heavily  on  the  re- 
sources of  his  firm;  there  was  no  one  to  object  except 
Monro,  and  he  had  some  hesitation  in  making  any  ef- 
fective protest.  After  all  McAllister  was  the  founder  of 
that  great  money-making  institution,  and  now  owned 
enough  of  it  to  do  practically  what  he  pleased,  although 
in  a  strictly  legal  sense  the  minority  shareholders  might 
have  invoked  protection ;  but  the  taking  of  such  a  step 
was  never  actually  considered  by  Monro,  who  contented 
himself  with  dropping  a  hint  now  and  then  that  his  friend 
was  somewhat  lavish  in  his  expectations  from  the  busi- 
ness. But  the  answer  to  that  was  the  undoubted  growth 
of  income,  and  the  unlikelihood  of  this  growth  being  ar- 
rested for  some  years. 

A  cyclone  advances  suddenly,  after  great  heat  and  out 
of  a  clear  sky.  When  the  whirling  cloud  appears  there 
is  no  time  to  do  anything  but  fly  to  the  cellar.  If  the 
cellar  is  not  dug  there  is  little  use  then  in  running  for  a 
spade. 

The  mansion  was  nearly  finished  when  a  great  bank- 
ing house  with  extensive  ramifications  in  the  West  failed 
unexpectedly.  The  newspapers  made  some  pretense 
that  this  failure  had  been  anticipated ;  those  behind  the 
scenes  were  cognisant  of  the  state  of  affairs ;  the  banking 
firm  had  become  involved  through  a  reckless  backing  of 
railways  which  were  being  built  where  waggon  roads 
would  have  sufficed  for  years  to  come.  The  failure 
would  have  no  effect  on  the  market.  It  had  been  dis- 
counted. 

But  as  a  great  oak  in  the  forest  brings  down  lesser 
trees  in  its  fall,  the  collapse  of  the  bank  had  crushed 
houses  in  Chicago,  San  Francisco  and  elsewhere.  A  cold 
shiver  ran  up  the  financial  backbone  of  the  country.  It 
seemed  as  if  some  imp  of  mischief  had  waved  a  wand 
over  the  land,  and  all  ready  cash  had  disappeared.  Re- 
sources in  plenty,  securities  in  plenty,  but  no  money. 

McAllister  met  the  situation  with  a  smiling  face. 
Everything  would  be  all  right.  The  man  on  the  knoll, 


486  The  Victors 

up  to  the  knees  in  water,  who,  unlike  the  Maclean,  hadn't 
"  a  boat  o'  his  ain,"  told  Noah  that  it  was  only  going  to 
be  a  shower  anyhow.  So  McAllister,  cheerful  in  the 
downpour,  insisted  he  wasn't  getting  wet. 

"  You  see,  Jimmy,  people  have  got  to  buy  certain 
things,  whether  times  are  hard  or  not,  and  we've  got 
these  certain  things  to  sell.  We  do  a  cash  business  and 
consequently  have  no  bad  debts.  It  is  credit  causes  these 
panics ;  credit  and  a  sudden  loss  of  confidence." 

"  All  that  is  true  enough,  still  people  buy  less,  and  buy 
more  cheaply.  Our  receipts  have  fallen  off  a  good  many 
thousands  this  month  as  compared  with  the  same  month 
last  year,  and  they  are  going  steadily  down." 

"  Well,  that's  easily  met.  Shorten  sail  in  a  gale. 
We'll  have  to  discharge  some  of  our  employees,  but  not 
any  of  the  married  men,  Jimmy,  if  you  can  help  it.  Cut 
down  salaries.  Take  ten  thousand  off  mine;  slice  the 
wages  of  everybody  else,  at  a  rate  of  half  that  percent- 
age. We're  all  in  the  same  boat,  and  the  crew  can't 
growl  if  their  rations  are  diminished  only  half  as  much  as 
the  captain's." 

Monro  smiled. 

"  The  men  may  not  be  as  familiar  with  percentage  as 
you  are,  Ben.  If  they  knew  you  had  twenty  thousand 
dollars  a  year  left,  they  might  not  see  any  consolation  in 
the  percentage  shaved  off  their  own  limited  pay.  How- 
ever, we'll  have  to  do  it.  I  don't  believe  this  storm  is 
going  to  blow  over  as  quickly  as  you  think." 

On  the  evening  of  the  day  that  McAllister  moved  into 
his  new  house,  he  and  Monro  sat  late  together  question- 
ing columns  of  figures ;  discussing  what  was  to  be  done 
in  the  future.  They  walked  up  the  deserted  street  to- 
gether, after  the  frequenters  of  theatres  had  gone  home, 
and  Monro  thought  nothing  of  the  matter  when  his  friend 
bade  him  good-night  at  the  steps  of  the  hotel,  for  he,  too, 
had  forgotten  the  existence  of  that  monumental  folly 
further  up-town. 

Next  morning  McAllister  did  not  appear,  and  toward 
noon  Monro  telephoned  to  the  hotel,  but  they  knew  noth- 
ing of  him,  and  to  the  house,  but  its  numerous  telephones 


"  Despatch  all  business  and  begone"      487 

were  silent ;  the  Central  could  get  no  reply  to  its  call. 
Monro,  fearing  something  was  wrong,  went  up  to  the 
mansion,  but  no  one  answered  the  door,  and  an  obliging 
policeman  informed  him  that  the  servants  had  all  left  in 
the  early  part  of  the  day.  Later  a  man  with  a  valise  had 
gone  off  in  a  cab,  but  that  was  all  the  policeman  knew, 
and  with  this  Monro  had  to  be  content.  There  was  noth- 
ing further  he  could  do. 

The  following  day  his  anxiety  was  in  part  relieved  by 
the  receipt  of  a  hurried  note  written  by  McAllister  on  a 
westward-bound  train.  He  was  going  to  take  a  rest,  he 
said.  Jim  must  do  the  best  he  could  during  his  absence. 
He  had  thought  over  the  subjects  they  discussed  the  night 
before,  and  the  only  practical  suggestion  he  could  make 
was  to  sell  the  new  house.  Schmittelmyer,  of  the  firm  of 
Schmittelmyer  &  Eikstein,  had  offered  fifty  per  cent,  more 
than  it  cost.  Would  Jim  go  to  him  at  once  and  make  a 
deal?  The  papers  were  all  in  the  safe,  and  he  had  full 
power  to  transact  business.  Sell  the  furniture  or  store  it. 
Make  the  best  bargain  he  could ;  the  Jew  had  plenty  of 
money ;  but  sell  in  any  case,  even  if  much  below  cost. 
Mrs.  McAllister  did  not  like  the  arrangement  of  the 
house,  so  he  would  have  parted  with  it  whether  they 
needed  the  money  or  not.  Jim  was  to  apply  the  proceeds 
to  the  use  of  the  company.  He  inclosed  the  thin  latch- 
key and  gave  an  address  in  Chicago  where  a  telegram 
would  find  him  within  the  next  few  davs. 

This  sudden  determination  to  take  a  holiday  did  not 
surprise  Monro,  although  he  thought  the  moment  chosen 
rather  inopportune.  However,  Ben  was  always  doing 
the  unexpected.  Monro  telegraphed  to  Chicago,  asking 
his  partner  to  keep  in  touch  with  the  office  wherever  he 
was.  Then  he  sought  an  interview  with  Schmittelmyer. 
That  financier,  however,  had  changed  his  mind,  and  no 
offer  which  could  be  made  would  tempt  him  to  reconsider 
his  determination.  Thus  the  visit  was  worse  than  futile, 
for  the  rumour  got  abroad  that  the  big  firm  of  McAllis- 
ter, Monro  &  Co.  was  in  difficulties,  an  unfortunate 
whisper  to  become  current  at  a  time  when  the  stability  of 
even  old-standing  houses  was  in  doubt.  So  Monro  had 


488  The  Victors 

his  work  cut  out  for  him,  and  he  received  no  assistance 
from  his  chief,  who  merely  wrote  to  mortgage  house  and 
lot,  and  chattel  mortgage  the  furniture,  if  he  needed  to 
raise  money.  This  was  easier  said  than  done  at  any  rate 
of  interest  less  than  usurious  and  for  any  amount  at  all 
compared  with  cost  price. 

McAllister  flitted  here  and  there  over  the  land,  a  veri- 
table Wandering  Jew,  until  Monro  began  to  wonder  what 
demon  of  unrest  had  taken  possession  of  him.  About  a 
month  after  his  departure  he  turned  up,  unawares,  at  the 
office,  looking  gaunt  and  unkempt.  There  was  some- 
thing of  the  old  hilarity  left  in  his  manner,  but  it  rang 
false  to  Monro ;  seemed  assumed  for  the  occasion. 

"  Well,  Jim,  old  man,  how's  things  ?  " 

"  Not  as  bright-  as  I  could  wish.  By  the  way,  you  are 
not  looking  any  too  well  yourself.  How  are  you  ?  " 

"  Oh,  I'm  all  right.  I'll  be  the  better  for  a  shave. 
Haven't  seen  a  barber  for  four  days.  Anything  new? 
Sold  the  house  yet  ?  " 

"  No,  to  both  questions." 

"  The  old  ship  keeps  afloat,  eh  ?  That's  good,  that's 
good.  I  just  dropped  in  to  see  you,  but  I  must  be  away 
to-night." 

"What,   off   again?" 

"Yes,  'off  again,  on  again,  gone  again,  Flannigan.' 
That's  me,  Jimmy." 

"  Why  don't  you  go  to  some  quiet  spot  and  take  a  good 
rest?  This  incessant  travelling  is  harder  on  a  man  than 
sticking  to  business." 

"  Well,  you  know,  a  fellow  ought  to  see  something  of 
his  own  country.  There's  too  much  of  this  going  to 
Europe.  I  believe  a  man  should  spend  his  money  where 
he  makes  it.  I  couldn't  rest  in  a  quiet  spot  anywhere." 

"  Talking  of  making  money,  Ben ;  we're  not  making 
any  too  much.  When  are  you  coming  back  to  take 
charge  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know.  Not  yet  awhile.  Thunder !  I 
haven't  had  a  vacation  in  fifteen  years,  and  you're  getting 
on  all  right  without  me." 

"  No,  I'm  not.  We  need  you  here  every  daVj  and 
never  so  much  as  within  the  last  month." 


"  Despatch  all  business  and  begone  "     489 

"  You  talk  as  if  I  were  indispensable.     I'm  not." 

"  I  regard  you  as  indispensable." 

"  Nonsense.  What  would  you  do  if  I  were  struck 
dead  at  the  telephone?  You'd  get  along  without  me,  I 
guess.  You'd  have  to." 

"  Certainly,  but  there's  more  danger  of  your  being 
smashed  up  in  a  railway  accident  the  way  you're  going 
on." 

"  That's  all  right.  I  carry  a  lot  of  insurance.  Any- 
body particular  been  to  see  me  since  I've  been  gone?" 

"  A  reporter  has  been  hanging  about  these  last  few 
days  inquiring  for  you." 

"  A  reporter !  Good  heavens  !  What  did  he  want  ?  " 
cried  McAllister  breathlessly,  his  eyes  dilating. 

"  Wanted  to  interview  you." 

"  Of  course,  of  course.     But  what  about  ?  " 

"  He  wants  the  views  of  noted  business  men  on  the  de- 
pression— hopeful  views ;  so  I  told  him  you  were  his 
man.  He  thinks  the  publication  of  a  series  will  have  an 
encouraging  effect  on  the  country." 

"  Oh,  the  depression,  that's  all  right.  It  won't  last 
long.  You  tell  him  so  next  time  he  comes.  Anything 
else?" 

"  No,  nothing  important.  Had  a  delegation  in  from 
our  impeccable  city  government  the  other  day.  You 
don't  need  to  ask  what  it  wanted.  It  was  after  a  dona- 
tion and  didn't  get  it.  The  cheek  of  that  organisation 
is  something  amazing." 

"  Why  didn't  you  tell  them  we  were  republicans?  " 

"  I  did,  but  they  said  republican  money  was  just  as 
good  as  any  other  these  t:mes.  The  delegation  was  com- 
posed of  two  distinguished  citizens,  who  looked  as  if  they 
had  recently  been  graduated  from  behind  some  bar.  Noth- 
ing would  do  but  they  must  see  you,  although,  hearing 
you  were  West,  they  condescended  to  explain  the  mat- 
ter to  me.  I  offered  them  a  hundred  dollars,  but  they 
wouldn't  look  at  it.  The  leader  glanced  at  his  notebook 
and  said  a  firm  like  this  ought  to  be  good  for  ten  thou- 
sand dollars." 

;'  Ten  thousand !  I'd  see  them  in  .  What  did 

you  say  ?. " 


490  The  Victors 

"  Well,  I  told  them  that  this  wasn't  just  the  time  for 
throwing  away  lump  sums  like  that,  business  was  too 
slack ;  they  blustered  a  bit  and  threatened  a  bit,  then  took 
themselves  off." 

"  Threatened  ?    What  can  they  do  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know.  They  were  very  vague.  Hinted  I 
was  piling  up  trouble  for  myself.  They  were  the  kind 
of  men  who  believe  in  bluffing.  I  was  perfectly  polite 
with  them,  and  merely  said  I  was  sorry  we  were  not  in  a 
position  to  do  anything  lavish  just  now.  I  suppose  they 
can  put  us  to  some  trouble  with  this  ordinance  or  that, 
but  I  doubt  if  they  can  bother  us  ten  thousand  dollars' 
worth." 

"  I  should  think  not.  If  there  are  any  of  the  by-laws 
we're  not  keeping,  all  they  have  to  do  is  to  let  us  know 
and  we'll  reform.  Well,  Jimmy,  I  want  to  sret  a  little 
cash,  and  then  I'm  off  again  like  our  friend  Flannigan." 

"  Very  good.  I  think  we  can  manage  it.  How  is 
Mrs.  McAllister  ?  I  hope  you  haven't  been  dragging  her 
all  over  the  country  with  you  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no ;  she's  all  right.  Staying  with  friends.  So 
long,  Jimmy,  I  must  go  to  get  shaved." 


CHAPTER    III 

"  DASHED  OUT  WITH   A  GRECIAN   CLUB  " 

MCALLISTER  took  the  road  again,  and  Monro  returned 
to  his  desk.  The  day  they  spent  together  had  deepened 
the  latter's  anxiety  regarding  his  friend.  Monro  looked 
upon  McAllister  as  a  man  upon  the  point  of  breaking 
down  from  overwork ;  his  forced  hilarity ;  the  wildness 
of  h's  eye,  whose  feverish  gleam  was  too  bright ;  the  im- 
possibility of  getting  him  to  concentrate  his  attention 
upon  any  one  subject  for  more  than  a  minute  jr  two  at  a 
time ;  the  futility  of  attempting  to  interest  him  in  the  de- 
tails of  his  own  business  were  all  indications  that  some- 
thing was  wrong.  Jim  urged  him  to  remain  a  few  days 
in  town  to  consult  a  physician,  but  McAllister  laughed 
at  the  proposal.  He  was  never  more  fit  in  his  life,  he  in- 
sisted ;  this  knocking  round  the  country  agreed  with 
him ;  he  was  always  fond  of  travel,  but  never  had  had  an 
opportunity  of  indulging  in  it  before;  the  business  was 
in  excellent  hands,  no  fear  on  that  score;  the  commercial 
depression  was  merely  temporary,  a  ripple  on  the  trou- 
bled waters  of  finance ;  so  it  was  "  Good-bye,  Jimmy,  old 
man ;  you're  doing  first-rate,"  and  McAllister  stepped 
into  the  westward  bound  sleeping  car. 

Monro  turned  away  from  the  railway  station  with  an 
unwonted  sinking  of  the  heart  oppressed  by  a  dull 
sense  of  impending  disaster  more  ominous  even  than  the 
business  outlook. 

Several  days  after  McAllister's  departure  one  of  the 
two  delegates  who  had  formerly  waited  upon  him  came 
in  to  see  him  again.  It  was  the  man  with  the  notebook, 
the  more  truculent  of  the  pair. 

"  Has  McAllister  got  back  yet  ?  "  was  his  first  ques- 
tion, 

491 


492  The  Victors 

"  He  was  in  town  about  a  week  ago,  but  has  gone  West 
again." 

"  Did  you  mention  this  little  matter  tp  him?  " 

"  Yes ;  he  quite  agrees  with  me  that  the  state  of  busi- 
ness is  such  we  have  to  look  very  closely  to  GUI  expendi- 
tures." 

"  Oh,  that's  his  idea,  is  it?  Well,  I  suppose  you  both 
know  your  own  business  best.  We  rather  expected  him 
to  drop  in  to  see  us  and  have  a  chat  over  the  matter." 

"  He  was  in  town  for  the  day  only,  and  was  very 
busy." 

"A  day  doesn't  last  long  in  New  York,  does  it? 
That's  all  right;  it's  none  of  my  funeral.  I  just  thought 
I'd  call  in  and  see,  so  that  there  would  be  no  misunder- 
standing. I'm  not  here  as  official  collector,  you  know ; 
just  in  my  private  capacity." 

"  That  is  very  good  of  you,  but  we've  quite  made  up 
our  minds  that  we  can't  do  anything  at  the  present  mo- 
ment." 

"  I  see.  Some  future  time,  eh?  Well,  that's  all  right. 
My  name  is  Billy  Cudmore ;  perhaps  you  know  who  I 
am?" 

"  No,  Mr.  Cudmore ;  I  don't  think  I  do." 

"  Well,  I'm  licence  inspector,  and,  although  I'm  here 
in  my  private  capacity,  it'll  save  me  another  trip,  and  also 
your  time,  which  is  valuable,  if  you'll  just  let  me  look  at 
your  licence  now,  so  I  can  make  a  note  of  it." 

"  Licence  for  what  ?  " 

"  Why,  for  selling  liquor,  of  course." 

"  Oh,  we  don't  deal  in  liquor  here." 

"  Why,  how  is  that  ?  " 

"  Well,  we  don't  believe  in  it,  for  one  thing.  Both 
McAllister  and  myself  are  temperance  men.  We  think 
there  are  too  many  liquor-selling  establishments  in  the 
city  as  it  is,  without  our  going  into  the  business." 

'  That's  kind  of  strange ;  I  don't  quite  understand  it. 
A  complaint  has  been  lodged  against  you  for  selling 
liquor  without  a  licence.  The  matter  was  referred  to 
me,  of  course,  and  I  said  at  once  it  was  absurd ;  told  'em 
J  knew  you,  and  you  weren't  the  sort  of  people  to  do  such. 


"  Dashed  out  with  a  Grecian  club  "     493 

a  thing  unless  you  had  the  right  to  do  it.  I  said  I'd 
drop  in  and  see  your  licence.  Of  course,  it  never  struck 
me  you  hadn't  any." 

"  I  should  think  you  might  have  discovered  that  with- 
out coming  here,  by  simply  consulting  your  records." 

"  Of  course,  of  course.  That's  one  way.  Still,  mis- 
takes happen  now  and  then,  and  a  moment's  talk  may 
straighten  out  things." 

"  Who  made  the  complaint  ?  " 

"  Ah,  there  you  get  rather  out  of  my  department. 
Anything  in  my  line  I'm  willing  to  tell  you,  but  that — " 

"  It  doesn't  matter." 

"  I  may  say  it's  a  neighbour  of  yours,  a  saloonkeeper 
and  one  of  the  most  respectable  men  in  New  York.  He 
says  his  bottle  trade  is  knocked  out  by  you  underselling 
him,  and  he  thinks  if  you  want  to  play  that  game  you 
ought  to  take  out  a  licence,  which  he  didn't  suppose  you 
had,  and  I  thought  he  was  wrong.  He  says  he  doesn't 
see  why  he  should  be  compelled  to  carry  a  licence  if  you 
don't." 

"  It  does  seem  a  little  unfair,  but  he  overlooks  the  easily 
proven  fact  that  we  never  sold  a  bottle  or  a  glass  of  the 
stuff  here  since  the  place  was  opened." 

"  He  says  he's  got  proof  of  the  contrary  all  right 
enough." 

"  I  don't  doubt  it.  I  suppose,  then,  I  may  regard  this 
as  the  opening  of  the  campaign  for  the  ten  thousand  ?  " 

"  Now,  look  here,  my  friend."  said  the  inspector, 
waving  his  open  hand  in  the  air  like  the  blade  of  a  scull- 
ing oar  in  the  water,  "  don't  you  make  any  mistake 
about  this.  The  two  things  have  got  nothing  to  do  with 
each  other.  We're  here  to  see  that  the  law's  complied 
with,  that's  all.  You  prove  that  you're  all  right,  and  you 
are  all  right."  * 

"  I  think  the  law  works  the  other  way  about ;  it's  for 
you  to  prove  that  we  are  all  wrong." 

"  Perhaps  you  know  a  lot  about  the  law,  and  perhaps 
you  don't.  Take  a  pointer  from  me  and  get  a  good  law- 
yer for  this  thing.  Now,  here's  the  card  of  a  friend  of 
mine  in  the  law  business,  It'll  pay  you  tp  consult  him, 


494  The  Victors 

He  understands  the  game  and'll  see  you  through." 

"  Thanks.     I  don't  think  I'll  need  him." 

"  Well,  it's  up  to  you.  You  do  just  as  you  think  fit, 
but  I'm  talking  as  a  friend,  understand?  As  one  gentle- 
man to  another.  It  won't  do  no  hurt  to  have  a  talk  with 
him." 

The  inspector  rose  to  go,  leaving  the  lawyer's  card  on 
the  desk. 

"  Well,  so  long." 

"  Good-bye.  I'm  much  obliged  for  your  friendly  in- 
tere-t." 

"  Oh,  that's  all  right.  I  don't  want  to  see  no  man  get 
into  trouble." 

The  days  passed  without  further  sign  on  the  part  of 
the  aggressors ;  the  tiger  seemed  hesitating  before  it 
sprang.  Monro  thought  it  all  a  huge  game  of  bluff,  and 
as  time  went  by  he  forgot  about  it. 

One  lovely  morning,  which,  nevertheless,  gave  promise 
of  great  heat  later  on,  he  was  roused  at  his  desk  by  the 
inspiring  music  of  a  military  band  passing  along  the 
street.  Going  to  the  window,  he  saw  an  apparently  end- 
less procession  marching  up  trie  avenue,  with  draped 
flags  flying,  and  not  one  band,  but  many. 

"  What's  all  this  about?  "  he  asked  a  clerk. 

"  Memorial  Day,  sir." 

Thus  was  a  date  in  early  summer  stamped  upon  his 
memory,  for  that  procession,  on  its  way  to  place  wreaths 
over  the  graves  of  some  who  had  fallen  that  liberty  might 
flourish,  tramped  across  his  brain  for  many  days  to 
come,  and  the  patriotic  music  of  the  bands  never  after- 
ward sounded  in  his  ears  without  causing  him  to  shud- 
der. 

It  was  nearly  closing  time  when  a  pol:ce  sergeant, 
accompanied  by  two  patrolmen,  entered  his  office.  He 
looked  up  in  surprise. 

"  Are  you  Mr.  Monro  ?  "  asked  the  sergeant. 

"  Yes.'"' 

"  I've  come  about  that  liquor  case.  I  believe  the  li- 
cence inspector  spoke  to  you  about  i-t." 

"  Yes.     Are  you  going  to  take  proceedings  ?  " 


"  Dashed  out  with  a  Grecian  club  "     495 

"  I  believe  so,  Mr.  Monro." 

"  Very  good.     Whom  am  I  to  go  to  see  ?  " 

"  Well,  I  think  you'd  better  see  the  captain  of  the  pre- 
cinct first." 

"  All  right.     I'll  call  on  him  to-morrow." 

"  He's  waiting  for  you  now." 

"  Very  well.     I'll  drop  round  in  a  few  minutes." 

"  I  don't  think  you  understand.  I've  got  a  warrant  for 
vour  arrest.  You  must  come  with  me  at  once,  and  I  hope 
you'll  come  quietly." 

"  Arrest  ?  There's  no  necessity  for  that  sort  of  action. 
I'm  here  at  any  time  I'm  wanted." 

"  We  want  you  now.  Of  course  you  understand  I'm 
simply  obeying  instructions.  You  can  have  a  cab  if  you 
like  to  pay  for  it,  and  if  you'll  give  me  your  word  as  a 
gentleman  that  you'll  go  along  quietly  I'll  dismiss  these 
men  and  we  can  go  out  together." 

"  Thank  you;  I'll  make  no  resistance,  but  I  must  speak 
to  one  or  two  here  before  I  leave." 

"  Excuse  me,  Mr.  Monro.  I'm  taking  risks  in  what 
I've  offered  already.  1111  be  obliged  if  you'll  close  your 
desk  and  come  right  along ;  if  not,  I'll  have  to  take  you." 

"  Oh,  very  good ;  I'm  at  your  service." 

"  That's  sensible.  I've  got  a  cab  in  the  side  street.  I 
suppose  you'll  stand  the  racket?" 

"  Certainly." 

They  drove  together  to  the  police  station.  Monro  paid 
for  the  cab,  dismissed  it  and  went  inside  to  a  large  room 
where,  at  a  big  flat-topped  desk,  an  official  sat  writing. 
Several  policemen  in  uniform  were  lounging  about,  and 
a  man  in  citizen's  clothes  stood  resting  one  hand  on  the 
desk. 

Monro,  quite  accurately  taking  the  seated  official  for 
the  person  in  authority,  walked  up  to  the  desk,  the 
sergeant  behind  him. 

"  I  am  Monro,  of  McAllister,  Monro  &  Co.,"  he  said. 

"  Oh,  are  you  ?  "  commented  the  official,  without  look- 
ing up.  Monro  waited  in  silence  for  a  few  minutes,  but 
seeing  the  other  showed  no  sign  of  paying  any  attention 
to  him  he  remarked : 


496  The  Victors 

"  Perhaps  you  will  be  good  enough  to  tell  me  why  I 
am  brought  here,  and  why  it  was  necessary  to  get  out  a 
warrant  for  a  man  who  stood  ready  to  appear  whenever 
called  upon  to  do  so?  " 

"  Say,  this  is  Decoration  Day  all  right  enough,  but  we 
don't  want  any  decorated  speeches  here.  There's  a  hall 
across  the  road  for  that  sort  of  thi.ig." 

The  man  in  citizen's  clothes  laughed  at  this,  as  did  also 
the  lounging  policemen. 

"  Very  well.  I'll  go  over  to  the  hall,  and  come  back 
when  you  are  less  busy,"  replied  Monro. 

"  Not  on  your  life  you  won't,"  said  the  official, 
jauntily,  shoving  back  the  papers  before  him.  "  No, 
sonny,  we're  ready  for  you.  Have  you  got  a  lawyer  ?  " 

"  No.  I  don't  know  of  any  charges  to  meet,  or  any 
need  for  a  lawyer." 

"Oh,  you  don't,  eh?  Well,  I  guess  you  know  the 
charge  all  right  enough,  and.this  man  here  beside  me  is 
the  best  lawyer  in  New  \ork  for  liquor  cases." 

"J'll  choose  my  own  lawyer,  if  one  should  become 
necessary." 

"  Will,  eh  ?  "  said  the  official,  rising  and  coming  from 
behind  the  desk.  "  Now,  look  here,  young  man,  I'm 
going  to  give  you  some  advice  that  you  don't  need  to  pay 
for.  You  mustn't  come  in  here  with  any  of  your  up-town 
airs.  See?  The  Fifth  Avenue  swagger  don't  go  here. 
See?  All  men  are  equal  before  the  law,  and  you're  no 
bigger  a  muck-a-muck  than  any  other  criminal  yanked 
in  off  the  street.  See  ?  " 

The  captain  had  advanced  truculently  step  by  step  as 
he  spoke,  drawing  back  his  right  clenched  fist  several 
times  in  a  threatening  manner,  Monro  retreating  as  the 
other  came  on. 

"  I  want  you  to  understand  that  I'm  no  criminal,  and 
furthermore  you  know  I'm  not.  Now  if  you  will  quit 
your  blustering  and  attend  to  the  business  you  are  paid 
for  attending  to,  I'll  be  much  obliged." 

"  I'll  attend  to  it,  you ,"  cried  the  cap- 
tain, landing  a  terrific  blow  with  his  fist,  which  Monro, 
dodging,  caught  in  the  ear.  The  sudden  onslaught  had 


"  Dashed  out  with  a  Grecian  club  "     497 

taken  him  unprepared.  It  seemed  incredible  that  a  treach- 
erous assault  like  this  should  have  been  contemplated. 
The  door  was  wide  open  to  the  street,  citizens  were  passing 
and  repassing  within  hail,  any  one  of  them  might  come 
in  at  any  moment,  and  this  was  the  centre  of  New  York, 
not  an  outlying  district  of  Armenia.  As  Monro  stag- 
gered under  the  unexpected  stroke,  these  thoughts  seemed 
to  dance  past  his  eyes.  Recovering  himself  he  very  skil- 
fully warded  off  the  succeeding  blow.  Then  with  a  spring 
forward  he  struck  the  captain  full  in  the  face  with  his 
clenched  fist,  and  thought  victory  was  his  as  the  official 
with  a  scream  of  pain  fell  backward  over  the  flat-topped 
desk.  But  Monro  had  to  do  with  a  gang  that  had  no 
squeamish  notions  regarding  fair  play.  He  was  in  a 
nrnority  of  six  to  one,  and  the  six  were  armed  with  re- 
volvers and  clubs,  while  he  had  no  means  of  defence  save 
his  bare  hands.  From  behind  he  was  promptly  felled  to 
hij  knees  by  a  well-planted  blow  of  a  heavy  baton,  the 
sickening  impact  mashing  the  back  of  his  head.  As  he 
knelt  there  half-stunned  and  dazed,  his  fingers  helplessly 
scraping  the  dirty  floor,  the  captain  recovering  himself, 
taking  a  sort  of  running  leap,  delivered  a  kick  in  his  ribs 
that  sent  him  prostrate;  then  the  cowardly  assailant  tried 
to  kick  him  in  the  face,  but  the  victim,  more  by  instinct 
than  from  any  thought  of  self-protection,  covered  it  with 
his  arms,  which  received  the  vicious  thrusts  of  the  cap- 
tain's stout  boots. 

"  Hold  on,  hold  on,"  groaned  Monro,  "  I  give  up.  I've 
had  enough." 

"  You'll  resist  the  law,  will  you?  You'd  strike  an  offi- 
cer, would  you  ?  Bet  your  life,  you'll  get  enough." 

The  captain,  panting  and  red-faced,  ceased  his  exer- 
tions and  drew  a  hand  across  his  brow,  for  it  was  a  hot 
evening. 

"  Put  him  into  No.  i  and  attend  to  him." 

"  Here,  get  up!  Get  on  your  feet!  "  cried  one  of  the 
policemen,  kicking  him  in  the  ribs,  while  another  poked 
him  with  the  end  of  his  baton. 

Monro  raised  himself  slowly  and  v  arily,  still  guarding 
h:s  face.  The  sergeant  who  had  arrested  him  took  him 
by  the  arm  and  assisted  him  to  his  unsteady  feet. 

32 


498  The  Victors 

"  Attend  to  him,"  shouted  the  captain.  "  Fan  him ; 
it's  a  hot  night." 

The  man  in  citizen's  clothes  laughed  heartily.  Some 
one  shoved  Monro  towards  an  open  door,  and  he  stag- 
gered blindly  to  the  top  of  a  short  flight  of  steps  which 
he  did  not  see.  However,  that  made  little  difference,  for 
a  kick  projected  him  clattering  down  the  stair  and 
against  a  wall  opposite.  He  heard  dimly  the  clank  of 
bolts,  and  was  again  thrust  forward.  The  warm  blood 
was  trickling  down  the  back  of  his  neck,  and  this  annoyed 
him.  There  was  another  stunning  blow  from  the  police- 
man's club,  again  on  the  back  of  his  head. 

"  In  God's  name — "  he  sobbed,  but  the  strokes  rained 
on  him  and  he  sank  insensible  to  the  floor  of  his  cell. 
The  fanning  had  fut  him  to  sleep. 

It  was  dark  when  he  partially  recovered  consciousness. 
He  found  his  open  hand  pressed  against  the  back  of  his 
head,  and  when  he  tried  to  remove  it  sharp  pains  shot 
through  his  trembling  frame.  When  a  man  is  disabled 
on  the  battle-field  his  first  cry  is  for  water.  The  inevita- 
ble fever  arising  from  the  wound  demands  water.  Mon- 
ro's  mouth  was  parched  and  he  moaned  for  water.  He 
got  his  hand  away  at  last,  clammy  and  sticky,  crawled 
somehow  to  the  door  of  his  cell,  beat  forcelessly  against 
it,  groaning,  "  Water,  water." 

"  What  are  you  making  such  a  fuss  about  ?  "  came  a 
voice  through  the  grating  above  him. 

"  Water,  water." 

"  Have  yez  any  money  ?  " 

"  Yes,  yes — all  you  want — but — quick — water." 

"  Get  up  on  your  feet  and  pass  it  through  here." 

With  his  unglued  hand  he  painfully  searched  his 
pockets,  but  they  were  empty. 

"  Money  to-morrow — water — water." 

"  Ah,  that's  no  good.     Go  to  the  devil !  " 

Half  in  half  out  of  delirium  he  spent  the  waterless 
night.  Sounds  came  through  the  grating  of  his  cell  from 
the  world  outside  and  they  bothered  him.  He  heard  the 
stamping  of  many  feet  in  the  hall  opposite,  and  the  ring- 
ing of  cheers.  The  sound  waves  beat  on  his  brain  as  if 


"  Dashed  out  with  a  Grecian  club  "     499 

the  clubs  were  at  their  work  again.  In  the  intervals  he 
caught  fragments  of  speeches,  "  palladium  of  liberty," 
"  blood  shed  that  we  may  be  free,"  and  he  thought  they 
were  referring  to  his  battered  head. 

Then  blessed  oblivion  came  down  on  him  again. 


CHAPTER    IV 

"  TO     LEAVE    YOU     IN     YOUR     MADNESS " 

SOMETHING  in  the  image  of  a  man  had  been  kicked  and 
clubbed  into  the  cell  the  night  before,  bt/  it  was  a 
wretched-looking  creature  that  emerged,  led  tottering. 
Any  judge  would  have  been  justified,  on  his  mere  ap- 
pearance, in  believing  whatever  a  well-groomed  police- 
man said  of  him.  He  was  taken  to  the  chief's  pri- 
vate room,  and  there  a  basin  was  placed  at  his  disposal  to 
remove  some  of  the  results  of  conflict  from  his  face,  but 
instead  of  washing  himself  the  pitiable  object  buried  his 
face  in  the  water  and  drank  and  drank  until  the  fright- 
ened attendant  shook  him  roughly  by  the  shoulders,  forc- 
ing him  to  desist. 

"  I'll — I'll  give  you  the  money — the  monev  in  the 
morning,"  he  sputtered  breathlessly,  the  water  running 
down  his  face.  He  shrank  timidly  from  the  sight  of  the 
uniform,  and  when  the  policeman  spoke  to  him  jerked 
his  arm  up  nervously  to  ward  off  a  blow. 

"  Here,  scrub  yourself !  You  don't  expect  me  to  do  it. 
Pull  yourself  together.  No  shamming  now.  Will  ye 
have  a  lawyer  ?  " 

"  Yes,  yes." 

"  All  right.    Ye've  some  sense  this  morning." 

The  man  in  citizen's  clothes  came  in  and  talked  a  good 
deal  and  whispered  a  good  deal,  Monro  wrinkling  his 
brow  trying  to  catch  the  drift  of  his  remarks,  which 
seemed  mingled  disturbingly  with  the  speeches  of  the 
night  before.  There  would  be  five  hundred  dollars  to 
pay  and  he  would  have  to  whack  up  with  the  police.  The 
prisoner  could  not  understand  who  was  to  whack  up, 
but  he  agreed  to  everything  eagerly. 

He  was  brought  before  somebody  and  there  were  a 
500 


"  To  leave  you  in  your  madness"      501 

number  of  people  about.  His  eyes  followed  the  little 
lawyer,  who  was  very  active,  whispering  here  and  there. 
Some  one  was  an  illicit  dealer  in  wh  sky.  The  detectives 
had  run  him  to  earth  in  a  manner  that  reflected  credit  on 
something  or  other,  and  there  were  loads  of  proofs.  He 
was  again  shaken  by  the  shoulders,  and  again  quailed. 
It  seemed  the  magistrate  wanted  to  know  something  and 
he  was  expected  to  answer. 

"  Yes,  yes,"  he  said. 

"Has  he  been  drinking?"  asked  the  judge. 

"  Yis,  yer  'anner,"  replied  the  policeman.  "  He  was  on 
a  fearful  bat  last  night.  Took  four  men  to  get  him  into 
the  cell.  Assaulted  them  all,  yer  'anner." 

"  Anybody  hurt?  " 

"  Nothing  to  speak  of,  yer  'anner,  but  he  gave  the  cap- 
tain a  nasty  rap." 

"  Oh,  well,  we  must  make  some  allowance  for  the  heat 
and  the  day  we  celebrate.  Stand  for  trial.  Bail,  seven 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars.  Three  bondsmen." 

There  was  a  whispered  conference  between  the  court 
and  the  lawyer,  joined  in  by  the  sergeant. 

"  All  right,"  said  the  court  at  last.  "  Two  bondsmen 
then.  Bail,  two  thousand  five  hundred." 

The  lawyer  brought  the  bondsmen  forward.  Pro- 
posals were  made  to  which  Monro  agreed.  It  was  won- 
derful how  smoothly  the  wheels  of  justice  revolved  under 
the  supervision  of  this  man  of  law.  And  he  was  philan- 
thropic as  well. 

"  I'll  look  after  him,"  he  assured  the  sergeant.  "  I've 
got  a  cab  at  the  door." 

Monro,  in  a  dream,  surmised  he  was  free.  The  lawyer 
got  him  into  the  cab  and  sat  bes'de  him. 

"You  live  in  Fifty-fourth  Street?"  he  asked.  ;' The 
directory  says  you  do." 

"  I  think  so." 

"  Have  you  got  a  cheque-book  there  ?  " 

"  In  the — in  the  third  drawer — yes,  that's  where  it  is." 

"  All  right  then.  We'll  be  there  in  a  jiffy.  You're 
feeling  first-rate  now  ?  " 

"  First-rate," 


502  The  Victors 

"  You'll  be  better  after  a  bath  and  something  to  eat. 
I'll  look  after  you." 

"  Thank  you.'' 

"Give  me  your  keys.     Which  is  the  latchkey?'' 

Monro  had  signed  some  sort  of  receipt  and  had  been 
given  a  bunch  of  keys,  a  pocket-book,  a  handful  of  silver 
and  a  knife.  He  bestowed  the  keys  upon  his  companion, 
and  helplessly  counted  the  bills  in  his  pocket-book, 
which,  few  as  they  were,  puzzled  him  in  an  unaccountable 
way. 

"  They're  all  right ;  they're  all  right,"  said  the  lawyer 
hastily.  "  Put  them  up.  You've  enough  there  to  pay  the 
cab,  and  that's  all  you  need.'' 

Monro  was  very  obedient  and  abandoned  his  enumera- 
tion. 

Once  inside  the  rooms  the  lawyer  was  anxious  about 
the  cheque-book,  which  his  host  with  difficulty  discovered. 
One  cheque  for  five  hundred  dollars  was  written  for  the 
lawyer  and  another  of  like  amount  for  the  bondsmen. 
The  lawyer  scrutinised  the  drafts  eagerly,  and  they  were 
apparently  perfect.  In  fact  the  habit  of  drawing  a 
cheque  was  so  strong  with  Monro  that  he  might  have 
written  one  in  his  sleep  that  the  bank  would  cash.  The 
lawyer  placed  the  documents  in  his  inside  pocket  with  a 
sigh  of  relief. 

"  Have  you  a  servant?  "  he  asked. 

"  I  don't  know." 

"Is  there  a  janitor  or  any  one  about?" 

"  I  think  there  is." 

"  Will  you  be  all  right  if  I  leave  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,  yes." 

"  Do  you  want  to  see  a  doctor  ?  " 

"  No." 

The  lawyer  touched  the  back  of  the  injured  head,  but 
the  wounded  man  shrank  from  him  with  a  gasp. 

"  Don't  do  that,"  he  begged  plaintively. 

"  I  don't  like  to  leave  you  this  way.  Will  you  have 
something  to  eat  ?  " 

"  No." 

"Will  you  have  something  to  drink?" 


"  To  leave  you  in  your  madness  "      503 

"Yes,  yes." 

The  lawyer  brought  him  a  glass  of  water,  which  he 
wolfed  down,  and  asked  for  another. 

"  I  think  you'd  better  take  off  your  clothes  and  have 
a  bath.  It  'ud  tone  you  up.  Shall  I  turn  on  the  water?  " 

"Yes,  please." 

Monro  undressed  himself  with  difficulty.  The  shirt 
stuck  to  his  back,  and  ripped  off  painfully  like  an  ad- 
hesive plaster.  He  wallowed  in  the  water,  and  then  the 
Good  Samaritan  helped  to  rub  him  down,  soothing  him 
when  he  winced  as  the  towel  touched  the  contused  back 
and  arms,  or  the  print  of  the  captain's  boot  on  his  side, 
He  found  a  soft  dressing-gown  in  a  cupboard  and 
helped  wrap  the  man  up  in  it. 

"  I'd  lie  down  now  for  a  while  if  I  were  you  and  get 
a  bit  of  sleep.  I'll  come  up  later  in  the  day  and  see 
how  you  are.  Shall  I  bring  the  police  doctor  with  me  ?  " 

"  O,  God,  no,"  muttered  Monro,  shuddering  at  the 
word  "  police.''  "  Keep  them  away  if  you  can." 

"  Oh,  you're  all  right.  You'll  be  fit  as  a  fiddle  when 
you  wake  up." 

The  obliging  person  in  the  citizen's  clothes  departed, 
after  Monro  had  thrown  himself  down  on  the  bed.  The 
wounded  man  dozed  off  constantly,  but  was  as  con- 
stantly clubbed  and  kicked  into  wakefulness,  starting  up 
and  protecting  his  face  with  his  swollen  arms,  now 
working  stiffly. 

Once  Grace  Van  Ness  stood  by  his  bed,  and  that 
seemed  natural  and  right,  for  she  had  been  flitting 
through  his  disordered  brain.  But  she  was  angry  with 
him. 

"  You  will  lose  your  money,"  she  said.  "  You  must 
stop  the  payment  of  that  cheque.  The  police  depart- 
ment is  bankrupt.  The  blood  that  has  been  shed  is 
wasted  and  the  palladium  of  liberty  is  endangered  by 
you.  Why  did  you  do  it  ?  " 

"  How  could  I  help  it,  Grace  ?  "  he  beseeched.  "  They 
were  six  to  one,  and  they  took  me  unaware.  I  fought 
till  I  was  stunned." 

He  reached  out  his  arms,  but  she  faded  away,  mock- 
ing him. 


504  The  Victors 

"  I'll  have  to  explain  that  to  her,"  he  murmured. 
"  She  doesn't  understand." 

In  the  afternoon  there  was  a  rap  at  the  door,  and  he 
thought  it  was  the  lawyer  returned,  but  as  he  held  the 
door  slightly  ajar  he  saw  it  was  another. 

"  Mr.  Holderness  sent  me,  sir,  to  see  if  you  were 
here." 

"  Holderness  ?     Who's  he  ?     The  lawyer  ?  " 

"  No,  sir.  I'm  from  the  store.  Our  Mr.  Holderness, 
sir." 

"  Oh,  yes.  Tell  him  it's  all  right.  I'll  be  down  by-and- 
by.  I  was  out  late  last  night,  tell  him.'' 

He  shut  the  door  and  dressed  himself  with  scrupulous 
mechanical  care.  He  had  all  the  New  York  man's  neat- 
ness of  attire.  As  he  passed  down  the  street  no  one 
would  have  suspected  that  here  walked  a  man  whose 
reason  was  dethroned,  although  there  was  an  occasional 
unsteadiness  of  gait,  a  momentary  hesitation  at  the  street 
corners. 

"  I  didn't  get  home  till  this  morning,"  he  said  to  Hol- 
derness when  he  reached  the  store.  The  latter  was 
quietly  solicitous,  noting  how  white  his  chief  looked,  but 
supposed  nothing  serious  had  occurred,  and  Monro  went 
directly  to  his  room.  He  sat  at  his  desk  fingering  his  un~ 
opened  mail ;  the  ordinary  letters  had  been  attended  to 
long  since.  He  shuffled  the  envelopes  about  like  a  gam- 
bler stocking  a  pack  of  cards.  Then  a  glimmer  of  sense 
returning,  he  called  the  chief  clerk,  gave  him  the  bundle, 
and  said: 

"  Will  you  look  into  these,  and  act  without  bothering 
me?  I'm  not  feeling  well  to-day." 

It  was  near  closing  time  when  his  typewriter  girl  came 
in  and  asked  him  if  he  had  any  further  need  of  her. 
He  looked  up  at  the  young  woman  with  knitted  brow. 

"  I  don't  think  so,"  he  said  at  last.  "  Stay  a  moment. 
What's  the  meaning  of  palladium  ?  '' 

"  I  don't  know,  sir." 

"Neither  do  I.     Haven't  you  got  a  dictionary?" 

"  Yes,  sir — a  small  one." 

"  What's  the  use  of  that  ?    You  need  a  big  dictionary 


"  To  leave  you  in  your  madness  "      505 

for  the  big  words  and  a  small  dictionary  for  the  small 
words.  Get  a  big  dictionary  and  look  it  up,  please." 

The  girl  retired,  frightened  at  his  ghostly  face  and  his 
earnest  incoherency.  When  she  returned  she  said: 

'  It's  a  greyish  metal  found  with  platinum." 

'  What  is?" 

'  Palladium." 

'  Nonsense.     It's  no  such  thing." 

'  It  is  also  a  defence  or  protection." 

'  Ah,  that's  better.  That's  right,  I  guess.  Thank  you. 
Good-night." 

He  sat  there  late,  with  his  elbows  on  the  desk,  his 
throbbing  head  in  his  hands.  When  he  let  himself  out 
the  street  lamps  were  lighted,  although  the  days  were  at 
their  longest.  The  former  hesitation  at  the  street  corners 
came  back  to  him  with  increased  perplexity.  He  had  lost 
his  rooms — that  confounded  lawyer  had  taken  them 
away.  He  should  have  stayed  and  acted  as  their  pal- 
ladium. Still,  what  could  he  have  done — six  to  one? 
Where,  then,  could  he  go?  To  the  police  station? 
Never,  never!  Anywhere  but  there.  Perhaps  it  had 
not  been  the  lawyer  after  all.  He  was  a  good  fellow, 
and  had  gone  away  friendly.  Grace  might  have  done 
it.  She  had  come  there  before,  and  was  offended  about 
something.  That  was  it.  She  could  not  take  the  rooms 
while  he  occupied  them.  Besides,  he  owed  her  an  ex- 
planation. How  simple  and  clear  a  situation  becomes 
when  you  reason  it  out.  He  would  go  to  her.  Many  a 
time  he  had  walked  Fifth  Avenue  on  the  chance  of  see- 
ing her.  That  was  the  solution.  He  now  strode  for- 
ward with  some  directness  up  the  avenue,  shrinking  be- 
side the  wall  and  treading  cautiously  when  he  saw  a  uni- 
form idly  twirling  its  club  at  the  edge  of  the  curb. 


CH APTE  R    V 

"  MADAM,     THIS     IS     MERE    DISTRACTION  " 

WEATHER  is  king  in  New  York ;  an  absolute  monarch. 
When  he  commands,  his  subjects  obey  without  question, 
"  Theirs  not  to  reason  why ;  theirs  but  to  do — or  die.'' 
He  sends  his  white-wreathed  janissaries  charging 
through  the  streets  and  says,  "  This  busy  town  shall 
be  closed  for  a  few  days,"  and  the  town  is  closed  ac- 
cordingly, none  disputing  the  mandate,  for  if  any  at- 
tempt to  infringe  the  order,  he  perishes,  be  he  statesmart 
or  tramp.  Death  is  the  penalty  of  disobedience  to  a  des- 
pot the  world  over.  And  the  warmth  of  his  anger  is" 
no  less  fatal  than  the  cold  of  his  displeasure.  The  vic- 
tim is  struck  to  the  pavement  and  carried  into  a  drug 
store.  A  heat-wave  dissolves  the  social  conventions ; 
even  the  stiff  collar  wilts  in  its  presence.  A  millionaire 
flies  to  the  seashore  or  the  mountains  as  quickly  as  may 
be,  but  if  the  hot  blast  take  him  unaware,  coming  earlier 
than  was  expected,  he  will  sit  in  his  shirt-sleeves  during 
the  evening  on  his  doorstep,  though  this  doorstep  be  the 
threshold  of  a  palace. 

When  Monro  reached  the  Van  Ness  mansion  he  found 
the  steps  tenantless.  The  front  door,  however,  was  wide 
open,  but  the  entrance  was  protected  by  a  hinged  screen 
fastened  on  the  inside,  that  allowed  whatever  air  there 
was  to  percolate  through  the  hall,  and  kept  all  summer 
insects  outside.  The  screen  did  not  baffle  the  young 
man  for  an  instant ;  love  laughs  at  locksmiths.  He  -took 
out  his  pocket-knife,  slit  the  wire  gauze,  inserted  his 
hand  and  deftly  undid  the  fastening.  It  never  occurred 
to  him  to  ring.  A  bell  merely  brought  a  servant,  and  he 
had  nothing  to  do  with  such ;  it  was  the  mistress  of  the 
house  he  wished  to  see.  but  he  knew  that  he  should  not 
506 


"  Madam,  this  is  mere  distraction  "      507 

enter  a  lady's  boudoir  unannounced,  so  he  tiptoed  gin- 
gerly down  the  hall  and  tapped  lightly  at  her  door, 
pleased  with  himself  that  he  was  acting  according  to  the 
requirements  of  good  society. 

"  Come  in,"  said  a  dreamy  voice. 

Only  one  shaded  electric  light  was  burning,  and  it 
filled  the  room  with  subdued  radiance.  The  fountain 
plashed  outside  like  the  sweet,  gentle  falling  of  rain, 
trebly  melodious  on  such  a  night.  The  girl  lay  back  in 
a  reclining  chair,  the  masses  of  her  cloud  of  hair  loose 
about  her  throat  and  shoulders  and  waist,  her  hands 
clasped  at  the  back  of  her  head,  allowing  the  shower  of 
bronze  tresses  to  pour  over  them  in  a  cascade  of  chang- 
ing colour,  away  from  the  snowy  pillar  of  her  neck. 
The  fleecy  sleeves  fell  from  the  rounded  arms,  nudely 
goddess-modelled.  Surprise  struck  her  into  scarcely 
breathing  marble,  as  she  gazed  motionless  at  the  smiling 
man,  who  stood  there  with  his  back  to  the  closed  door. 
Without  changing  her  negligent  posture  she  whispered 
at  last: 

"  O  Mr.  Monro !  I  thought  it  was  one  of  the  serv- 
ants. How  did  you  get  in  ?  " 

'  The  door  was  open,  and  I  looked  on  that  as  an  in- 
vitation ;  the  latchstring  hanging  out,  as  we  used  to  say 
in  the  West.  Besides,  I  wanted  to  see  you,  so  I  came  in." 

"  Won't  you  sit  down  ?  " 

Now  her  arms  dropped  to  her  sides,  and,  with  a  little 
shiver  of  the  shoulders,  she  sent  the  filmy  lace  rippling 
to  her  wrists,  covering  but  not  concealing  the  contour 
that  the  semi-transparent  fabric  enveloped. 

He  selected  a  wooden  chair  with  a  high-spindled  frame 
and  seated  himself,  sighing  in  careless  contentment,  but 
as  he  leaned  back  his  head  came  in  contact  with  the  cross- 
piece,  and  the  sigh  was  transformed  into  a  gasp.  A 
thread  of  pain  ran  through  him,  and  the  girl,  watching 
intently,  saw  a  spasm  of  trouble  chase  the  gladness  mo- 
mentarily from  his  face.  He  felt  again  the  warm  oozing 
at  the  nape  of  his  neck,  and,  as  before,  it  annoyed  him. 

"  I  don't  like  this  chair,"  he  complained  plaintively. 

"  Then  take  any  other/'  said  the  girl,  rising  amazed  to 


5o8  The  Victors 

her  feet.  "  That  one  is  artistic,  colonial  and  uncom- 
fortable." She  moved  an  easy  fauteuil  from  its  place 
and  his  eyes  followed  her,  happiness  once  more  illuming 
them.  "  Won't  you  sit  here  ?  " 

"  Thank  you.  I'm  afraid  you  think  me  rather  a 
trouble  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no.    Do  you  find  that  more  to  your  liking?  " 

"  Everything  is  to  my  liking.  It  did  not  use  to  be  so, 
but  it  is  now.  Are  you  busy  ?  " 

"  Busy,  a  night  like  this  ?  "  she  asked  with  a  nervous 
little  laugh  in  unison  with  the  tinkling  fountain.  She 
was  in  her  reclining  chair  opposite  him  once  more.  "  I 
was  just  idling  and  dreaming  when  you  came  in,  and  I 
am  not  sure  yet  but  you  are  part  of  a  dream.  It  is  too 
warm  even  to  read.  It  has  been  an  awful  day,  has  it 
not?" 

"  Yes,  but  not  so  bad  as  last  night." 

"  Really  ?  The  evening  papers  say  it  was  hotter  to- 
day than  yesterday,  and  will  be  hotter  still  to-morrow.'' 

"  Oh,  the  evening  papers  don't  know  what  they  are 
talking  about.  I  was  there.  And  that  reminds  me. 
You  were  angry  with  me  about  those  cheques." 

"  No,  not  angry,  Mr.  Monro ;  I  have  often  been  sorry 
I  spoke  so  harshly.  Haven't  you  forgiven  me  yet?  It 
is  long  ago,  you  know;  time  should  have  lessened  your 
resentment." 

"  Not  so  very  long  ago." 

"  Well,  it  has  seemed  long  to  me,  perhaps  because  I 
knew  I  had  been  unjust  and  a  little  hard.  If  you  are 
revengeful — sometimes  punishment  comes,  you  know, 
without  the  intervention  of  the  wronged  person." 

"  I'm  not  revengeful.  I  wouldn't  want  to  hurt  an 
enemy,  much  less  a  friend.'' 

"  Then  you  are  better  than  I.  I  don't  think  I  could 
forgive  an  injury.  That's  the  red  hair,  perhaps,"  and 
she  laughed  as  she  shook  the  strands  from  her  face. 

"  Your  hair  is  not  red.  It's — it's — I  can  think  of  no 
comparison  to  it.  What's-his-name  says  it's  red — Oh,  you 
know,"  he  snapped  finger  and  thumb  helplessly  trying  to 
recollect.  "  Well,  never  mind ;  it  doesn't  matter.  I 
can't  remember  his  name  just  now." 


'*  Madam,  this  is  mere  distraction  "      509 

"  I  hope  you  haven't  been  discussing  the  question  with 
any  one,"  she  said  with  some  severity. 

"  Oh,  no.  That  was  a  long  time  ago.  Nothing  mat- 
ters now  that  I'm  here  and  you're  here.  You're  sure 
that  you  understand  all  about  those  cheques?  Five  hun- 
dred dollars  each,  but  I  couldn't  help  it." 

"  Five  thousand,  you  niean." 

"  Was  it  five  thousand  ?  "  He  drew  down  his  brow 
and  pondered ;  then  laughed  softly  to  himself.  "  That's  a 
joke  on  him.  I've  done  him  out  of  a  lot  of  money  then." 

"  Of  whom  are  you  speaking?"  asked  the  girl  in  low 
tones,  her  vague  fear  increasing.  "  Of  Mr.  McAllis- 
ter?1' 

"  Ah,  that's  the  name  I  was  trying  to  think  of  a  mo- 
ment since.  Ben !  Say,  I'm  worried  about  him.  He's 
all  over  the  country  and  won't  come  home.  The  business 
is  going  to  pieces,  but  he  won't  come  back.  I  don't  be- 
lieve it  will  last  a  month." 

"Is  that  true?    Is  that  what  is  troubling  you?" 

"  Yes.  If  he  doesn't  come  back  I  don't  know  what 
will  happen." 

"  Where  is  he  now?  " 

"  I  don't  remember.  Yes  I  do.  Where  did  I  put  the 
telegram?  Oh,  here  it  is.  He  telegraphs  every  day,  but 
what  is  the  use  of  that?  We  need  him." 

Monro  fumbled  about  in  his  pockets  and  at  last  pro- 
duced a  crumpled  paper  which  he  handed  to  her.  The 
telegram  said: 

"  Shall  be  at  Grand  Hotel,  Cincinnati,  next  four  days. 
McAllister." 

"  What  you  tell  me  is  very  strange,"  she  replied  after 
reading  the  message.  "  Hasn't  he  occupied  his  splendid 
house  at  all  ?  " 

"  Only  for  one  night.  I  think  that's  where  the  mis- 
take was.  The  house  was  too  costly  for  one  night's  use." 

"  Have  you  been  out  in  the  sun  to-day  ?  " 

"  Me  ?     No.     You  know  where  I  was." 

"  Why  do  you  say  that  ?  " 

"Well,  you  called  on  me,  didn't  you?  This  is  the  re- 
turn visit.  Isn't  that  all  right  ?  " 


5io  The  Victors 

The  disturbing  thought  crossed  her  mind  that  he  had 
been  drinking,  and  this,  with  the  heat  of  the  day,  had 
overcome  him.  The  problem  became  how  to  get  out 
of  the  room.  He  sat  between  her  and  the  door,  watching 
with  an  intentness  at  first  embarrassing,  latterly  painful, 
every  movement  she  made.  Yet  he  seemed  so  gentle, 
and  the  tones  of  his  voice  were  so  kind,  that  even  now 
she  was  not  afraid  of  him.  She  hesitated  about  ringing 
for  a  servant,  hoping  he  would  go  home  of  his  own  vo- 
lition as  quietly  and  as  unnoticed  as  he  had  come.  .His 
eyes,  never  leaving  her,  divined  her  uneasiness.  Now 
was  his  opportunity ;  now,  or  the  vision  might  be  gone  as 
it  had  dissolved  before  his  outstretched  grasp  when  she 
censured  him.  She  was  meditating  escape  from  him ;  he 
saw  that.  If  he  failed  to  speak,  the  empty  chair  would 
confront  him ;  already  she  was  wavering  in  his  fevered 
sight,  and  the  moments  were  slipping,  slipping  from  him 
like  sand  in  the  glass.  He  leaned  forward  and  spoke  in 
a  low  voice : 

"  Grace,  how  lovely  you  look  in  that  dress  of  woven 
vapour ! " 

The  strange  accents  thrilled  the  girl  as  if  she  had  been 
waiting  for  them  all  her  life ;  a  lost  chord  of  the  heart, 
newly  awakened  into  music  at  the  touch  of  his  lips.  She 
answered,  half  frightened,  half  in  ecstasy,  hardly  know- 
ing what  she  said,  the  lace  fluttering  at  her  throat, 
rising  and  falling  with  her  quick  breathing : 

"  Oh,  more  substantial  than  that,  I  hope,  Mr.  Monro." 

"  I  called  you  Grace." 

"  Well,  I  like  my  own  name." 

"  So  do  I.  Mine  is  commonplace,  but  if  you  spoke 
it—" 

"  Is  it  Jim  or  James  ?  There  is  something  very 
friendly  about  the  first — as  McAllister  pronounces  it." 

But  he  was  not  interested  in  himself  or  his  title;  ab- 
sorbed in  her  alone,  his  shattered  mind  clung  to  one 
subject. 

"  Do  you  know  how  I  picture  you,  Grace  ?  In  rages. 
You  would  be  a  very  queen  of  tatters — 

"  Oh,  that  is  most  uncomplimentary." 


"Madam,  this  is  mere  distraction"      511 

"  No,  no.  Listen.  We  must  avoid  all  misunderstand- 
ing now,  Grace.  I  imagine  you  and  me  going  hand  in 
hand ;  no  one  else  in  the  world ;  no  money  to  make  or  to 
need ;  no  cheques  and  no  banks  to  cash  them.  Just 
the  margin  of  the  lake  and  the  silver  strand  our  pave- 
ment, you  and  me  in  rags  and  caring  nothing  but  for 
each  other.  And  the  mountains  to  climb,  to  the  edge  of 
the  woods,  with  the  lake  and  all  the  land  to  look  over. 
Will  you  come,  Grace  ?  " 

"  It's  very  likely.  I  always  was  an  impracticable  per- 
son, but  I  should  like  a  needle  and  thread." 

"  And  you'll  wear  your  hair  down  as  it  is  now.  I 
think  if  God  wanted  to  tell  an  angel  how  beautiful  she 
was — He  would  compare  her  to  you,  Grace — " 

"Oh,  Oh,  don't  talk  like  that — you  frighten  me.  What 
is  wrong  with  you — Jim  ?  " 

"  God  could  find  no  better  simile.  Your  hair  was  all 
loose  like  that  when  I  first  saw  you." 

"  No,  no.  You  never  saw  me  in  such  disarray 
before." 

"  Yes,  my  darling,  yes.  When  I  opened  that  state- 
room door  in  the  sleeping  car,  so  softly  you  never  heard, 
and  you  sat  there,  still  half  asleep  in  your  snowy  night 
dress,  I  thought  it  was  the  gate  of  heaven  I  had  un- 
closed and — " 

With  a  half-suppressed  cry  the  girl  had  arisen,  star- 
ing wild-eyed  at  him.  He  stood  up  also,  leaving  his 
chair  as  a  drunken  man  might. 

"What  have  I  said?  Shouldn't  I  have  told  you?  I 
did  not  intend  to  until — until —  Aren't  you  coming  with 
me,  after  all  ?  " 

Breathless,  she  tried  to  evade  him,  but  he  was  re- 
solved she  should  not  escape  a  second  time.  She  was 
too  precious  for  him  to  take  any  chance  of  losing  her, 
and  as  he  had  read  her  thought  before,  her  startled  eyes 
now  read  his,  and  she  knew  she  must  humour  his  frenzy 
if  she  were  to  be  victor. 

"  Jim,''  she  whispered  with  forced  calmness,  "  what  is 
it  you  wish  ?  " 

"  I  want  you  to  marry  me," 


5 12  The  Victors 

"  Yes.    You  will  then  do  what  I  ask  of  you  ?  " 

"  Always — always." 

"  Very  well ;  sit  down  and  let  me  leave  you  for  a 
moment." 

"  Oh,  not  that,  not  that.  You  may  never  return,  and  I 
shall  not  know  where  to  find  you  this  time." 

"  I  shall  return  at  once ;  besides,  you  promised,  and  if 
you  don't  keep  your  promise  I  won't  keep  mine." 

"  Well  then  I'll — I'll  tell  you.  If  I  put  my  hands  in 
your  hair  I'll  know  it's  really  you.  I  don't  feel  sure  of 
you  even  yet,  but  after  that  I  should." 

"  Very  well.     I'm  willing." 

She  came  bravely  up  to  him,  and  his  hands  lingered  in 
her  disordered  locks,  then  he  drew  her  toward  him  and 
kissed  her  unresisting  lips. 

"  Grace !  Grace,  place  your  sweet  cool  hands  on  my 
temples  and  I  know  the  pain  will  leave." 

"Are  you  in  pain?"  she  asked  anxiously,  but  before 
he  could  reply  she  withdrew  her  hand  with  a  shriek,  and 
gazed  horror-stricken  at  it. 

"Jim,  Jim!"  she  cried,  "who  has  wounded  you?" 

"  It's  all  right,  Grace.  That's  from  your  own  hair  ; 
mine — mine  is  black.  The  gold  has  come  off  on  your 
fingers :  it  won't  hurt ;  no.  not  gold ;  that  stood  between 
us,  but  I've  throttled  it.  It  must  give  way  to  me  now." 

But  the  frightened  girl  was  not  listening  to  him.  She 
had  pressed  the  electric  button,  leaving  a  stain  on  the 
delicate  colouring  of  the  wall. 

"  Sit  down,"  she  commanded,  and  he  obeyed  like  a  doc- 
ile child. 

The  servant  came  to  the  door. 

"  Run,  run  for  Doctor  Marshall,"  she  cried,  below  her 
panting  breath.  "  Round  the  corner.  Tell  him  to  come 
here  at  once — a  man  is  terribly  injured.  If  he  is  not  in, 
bring  some  other  doctor,  but  quick,  quick !  " 

"  Don't  let  any  one  come  into  this  room,  Grace,"  pro- 
tested Monro,  struggling  to  rise.  "  It's  ours.  No  one 
has  a  right  here  but  you  and  me." 

She  placed  her  hands  on  his  shoulders  and  restrained 
him. 

"  Jim,"  she  said,  "tell  me  who  did  this  ?  " 


"  Madam,  this  is  mere  distraction"      513 

"Did  what,  Grace?" 

"  How  came  you  wounded  ?  Have  you  been  in  any 
accident  ?  " 

"  Oh,  that !  Let  me  see — that  was  the  police — they 
clubbed  me." 

"  When  ?     Where  ?     Why  ?  " 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know.    A  long  time  ago." 

"  No,  no.     Tell  me  about  it.     Was  it  last  night  ?  " 

"  I  think  it  was.  Yes,  I  was  in  a  cell  all  night,  but 
they  kicked  and  clubbed  me,  six  to  one.  I  couldn't  help 
myself.  I  was  alone,  you  know." 

"Are  you  wandering,  or  if  this  true?  Can  it  be 
true?" 

There  was  a  tap  at  the  door. 

"  Dr.  Marshall,  miss." 

The  physician  came  in. 

"  Doctor,  this  is  Mr.  Monro,  a  very  dear  friend  of 
mine.  He  says  he  has  been  terribly  used  by  the  police — 
clubbed  and  kicked — but  I  think,"  lowering  her  voice, 
"  that  he  is  raving — delirious." 

"  I  can  quite  credit  anything  about  the  police.  It's 
not  the  first  case  I've  had  to  treat,"  said  the  doctor,  ad- 
vancing and  placing  his  hand  on  the  head  of  the  pa- 
tient, who  cowered  from,  the  touch. 

"It's  bleeding!"  she  cried,  shuddering. 

"  That  is  all  the  better,"  returned  the  doctor.  "  Don't 
be  alarmed." 

"  What  is  he  doing  here  ?  "  expostulated  Monro,  strug- 
gling to  rise.  "  I  won't  have  this  man  here.  He's  got 
the  police  outside.  He's  the  police  doctor  the  lawyer 
wanted  to  bring.  I  know  him." 

"  Not  at  all,"  said  Dr.  Marshall,  soothingly,  "  Do  you 
think  you  can  come  with  me?  It's  only  a  few  steps." 

"  No,  no.     I'm  not  such  a  fool.     I'm  safe  here." 

"  Doctor,"  whispered  Grace,  "  if  you  let  me  manage 
him  I  am  sure  I  can  bring  him  to  the  surgery.  He 
seems  afraid  of  you." 

"  You'd  better  let  me  send  for  help,  Miss  Van  Ness. 
No  one  can  predict  how  he  may  act.     When  did  this 
happen  ?" 
33 


5H  The  Victors 

"  Last  night,  he  said." 

"  And  has  he  had  no  attendance  since  then  ?  " 

"  I  think  not.  He  wandered  in  here.  I  thought  he 
was  suffering  from  the  heat/' 

"  That's  bad.  He  should  have  been  seen  to  long  ago. 
I'd  better  send  help  to  have  him  removed." 

"  I'm  afraid  it  would  excite  him.  He  is  in  a  condi- 
tion to  be  led,  not  to  be  reasoned  with.  Leave  your  door 
open  and  keep  out  of  sight  until  I  get  him  into  the  sur- 
gery." 

''  You  are  a  brave  girl,  Miss  Van  Ness.  Yours  is  the 
better  plan  if  it  can  be  accomplished.  Any  excitement  is 
bad.  Sure  you're  not  af rp.id  ?  " 

"  Not  in  the  least.  On  your  way  out  please  ask  the 
maid  to  go  downstairs  and  not  stand  in  the  hall.  And, 
Dr.  Marshall,  oblige  me  by  telling  no  one,  not  even  my 
father,  that  Mr.  Monro  wandered  in  here." 

After  a  pause  of  a  few  moments  she  turned  to  her 
guest,  who  was  pleased  now  that  they  were  alone  again. 

"  Are  you  ready,  Jim  ?  " 

"  Oh,  quite  ready.    You  are  going  with  me  then  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  We'll  go  up  through  the  park,  then  along  the  Hud- 
son till  we  come  to  the  lake  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  And  you'll  take  my  hand,  Grace  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  Oh,  that's  fine.    Wait  just  a  moment." 

He  was  standing  beside  her,  smiling.  Taking  her 
sleeve  between  his  fingers,  he  tore  the  frail  material  from 
the  shoulder  down,  exposing  the  white,  firm  arm,  then 
bent  his  head  and  pressed  his  lips  against  the  snow-pale 
flesh,  leaving  a  tint  like  the  rose.  "  That's  the  advantage 
of  the  rags,  you  see." 

"  Yes." 

"  Now  give  me  your  hand." 

"  The  other  hand,  Jim.  The  bared  shoulder  should 
be  next  the  ragman." 

Jim  laughed  with  quiet  satisfaction  at  this,  and  so  they 
went  out  together,  hand  in  hand,  through  the  hall,  down 


"  Madam,  this  is  mere  distraction  "     515 

the  steps  to  the  street,  fortunately  deserted.  They  walked 
slowly,  he  leaning  more  and  more  heavily  upon  her,  and 
at  the  doctor's  house  paused,  breathing  hard. 

"  Is  this — is  this  the  mountain,  Grace  ?  " 

"  Yes.    One  more  effort  and  we  are  safe." 

"  What  an  awful  thing — if  after  all — we  came  to  the 
foot — and — and  couldn't  climb." 

"  God — is  not  so  cruel  as  that,  Jim,"  said  the  girl  with 
a  sob. 

He  laboured  up,  step  by  step,  failing  perceptibly. 

"  Doctor,  doctor !  "  cried  his  guide,  "  come  quickly ; 
help  us." 

But  Jim  stumbled  on  the  threshold,  flung  his  hands  to 
his  head  and  pitched  forward,  prone  in  the  hallway. 


CHAPTER     VI 

"  O    GOD    DEFEND    ME !      HOW    AM     I    BESET !  " 

THERE  is  nothing  more  complete  and  satisfactory  in 
fiction  than  those  stories  relating  to  the  discovery  of 
something  mysteriously  hidden ;  a  theme  of  which  a 
French  writer  will  make  a  volume  and  an  American  a 
short  tale.  The  highest  pinnacle  of  the  art  was  probably 
reached  by  Edgar  Allan  Poe  in  that  incomparable  liter- 
ary gem,  "  The  Purloined  Letter."  An  important  docu- 
ment is  acquired  by  a  prominent  official — a  document 
compromising  the  honour  of  a  queen.  It  must  be  re- 
gained, and  the  whole  admirable  police  system  of  France 
is  at  the  disposal  of  the  searcher,  together  with  the  aid 
of  hired  bravos  who  may  waylay  and  even  murder  with 
impunity  the  supposed  holder  of  the  note.  Yet  the  com- 
bination is  frustrated ;  all  the  usual  tricks  of  the  trade 
are  valueless ;  the  document  is  not  forthcoming.  Then 
a  casual  outsider  (it  is  always  an  amateur  who  succeeds 
where  professionals  fail)  piles  one  little  detail  above  an- 
other, and  there,  at  the  top  of  the  heap,  is  the  missing  let- 
ter. If  the  idea  had  come  to  Dumas  he  would  have  made 
one  novel  and  twenty  sequels  to  it.  Poe  flipped  it  care- 
lessly to  the  public  in  as  many  pages,  yet  it  remains  to- 
day a  supreme  example  of  its  class. 

Nature  is  not  artistic,  as  Mr.  Whistler  is  said  to  have 
remarked.  She  cares  nothing  for  climaxes.  In  every- 
day life  a  man  fits  in  all  the  apparent  trivialities  one  to 
another,  but  the  purloined  letter  is  not  discovered. 

When  Benjamin  McAllister  set  out  to  find  the  missing 
woman,  his  whole  mind  was  concentrated  upon  the  task, 
and  he  forgot  the  huge  establishment  on  Sixth  Avenue 
as  completely  as  if  it  had  never  existed. 

He  leaned  back  in  his  seat  on  the  westward  bound 


"O  God  defend  me!  how  am  I  beset!"    517 

train  and  spread  out  before  his  intellect  the  detached 
fragments  of  the  puzzle  he  had  to  solve,  joining-  link  to 
link  with  patient  accuracy.  Impulse,  rather  than  reason, 
had  led  him  to  buy  a  ticket  to  Chicago.  In  the  West  was 
his  own  beginning,  and  somehow  the  West  beckoned  him, 
and  he  obeyed  the  summons.  Now  he  seemed  to  have  an 
eternity  of  leisure  before  him,  although  the  train  on  which 
he  travelled  was  one  of  the  fastest. 

This  was  no  sudden  flight  which  Constance  had  taken, 
but  a  desertion  premeditated  and  prepared  for.  That  he 
had  gathered  from  her  letter.  She  would  make  for  a 
definite  point  arranged  beforehand.  Had  she  any  money 
with  her?  It  was  unlikely  that  she  possessed  a  large 
amount.  During  their  life  together  he  had  always  been 
the  cashier,  she  asking  him  for  what  she  wanted,  and  get- 
ting it  without  question — if  he  had  it.  His  memory,  raw 
after  reading  her  letter,  now  accused  him.  Was  it  a  fact 
that  she  had  often  shrunk  from  the  asking,  giving  apol- 
ogetic reasons,  pleading  the  inevitableness  of  her  need? 
Could  such  a  feeling  have  been  possible?  If  she  had 
come  to  him  a  wealthy  woman,  instead  of  merely  in  pos- 
session of  the  clothes  she  wore,  would  he  have  hesitated 
to  ask  her  for  what  money  he  wanted?  Certainly 
not;  he  would  have  been  glad  to  accept  it  from  her, 
because  he  loved  her.  What  difference  should  money 
make  between  two  people  who  cared  for  each  other? 
What  matter  which  was  the  giver  and  which  the 
receiver?  Yet  might  it  not  be  because  she  came  to 
him  penniless  and  he  was  the  maker  of  their  money 
that  there  was  an  ever-increasing  reluctance  to  re- 
quire from  him  any  share  of  it?  Why  had  he  never 
thought  of  placing  a  bank  account  at  her  disposal? 
Any  time  these  last  few  years  he  might  have  done  this, 
and  would  have  done  it  if  she  had  spoken  the  word.  But 
she  never  gave  a  hint  of  that  or  any  other  of  his 
imagined  failings ;  each  fault,  trivial  in  itself  as  a 
snowflake  that  might  vanish  at  a  breath,  had  been  al- 
lowed silently  to  accumulate  all  these  years  unsuspected 
by  him  until  he  was  suddenly  overwhelmed  by  the  ava- 
lanche that  had  formed.  It  was  unfair,  unfair,  unfair. 


5i8  The  Victors 

Yet  now  after  all,  he  possessed  everything  and  she  had 
nothing.  She  might  possibly  be  in  want  and  he  a  mil- 
lionaire! Oh,  for  the  chance  of  slipping  unnoticed  a 
thousand  dollars  into  her  pocket !  His  eyes  dimmed  and 
filled  and  he  turned  them  to  the  flying  window,  that  cal- 
lous or  curious  tellow-travellers  might  not  notice  such 
evidence  of  unmanliness. 

He  shook  himself  free  from  the  grasp  of  recollection. 
The  past  was  past ;  the  present  clamoured  to  be  grappled 
with.  She  must  have  determined  to  earn  her  own 
money.  How?  A  most  capable  housewife,  as  was 
shown  in  their  own  poverty  days,  and  all  America  groan- 
ing under  arrogant  domestic  incapacity,  here  was  an  op- 
portunity ;  but  he  dismissed  it  without  a  moment's  con- 
sideration. An  American  woman  will  slave  in  her  own 
home,  but  she  will  not  work  in  the  kitchen  of  another  for 
any  wage  that  may  be  offered.  She  was  qualified  as  a 
teacher,  and  to  that  profession  she  'would  turn ;  adver- 
tisement had  either  been  inserted  in  a  newspaper,  or  one 
already  there  had  been  answered.  What  paper?  None 
in  New  York  certainly.  The  local  sheet  of  her  own 
home  had  always  come  to  her.  During  the  first  year 
of  their  married  life  McAllister  had  sent  in  a  sub- 
scription, and  the  paper  had  continued  to  come  ever 
since,  with  the  pathetic  confidence  which  the  rural  editor 
has  that  the  delinquent  subscriber  will  ultimately  pay,  or 
the  firmer  assurance  that  the  law  will  enforce  a  settle- 
ment when  the  amount  becomes  large  enough  to  justify 
action.  In  that  journal  then  the  advertisement  had  ap- 
peared. The  moment  he  arrived  in  Chicago  he  would 
order,  through  the  news  company,  a  complete  file  for  the 
past  six  months  and  he  would  search  each  column  to 
trace  the  situation  she  had  secured.  He  had  a  dim  idea 
that  the  certificate  or  diploma,  authorising  her  to  teach 
in  a  school,  was  good  only  in  Illinois.  It  would  be  sim- 
ply a  matter  of  detail  to  get  a  list  of  the  teachers  and  as- 
sistants in  every  school  of  that  state.  Failing  Illinois  he 
would  search  one  state  after  another ;  there  was  only  a 
limited  number  of  them.  Would  she  abandon  her  own 
name?  Possible,  but  unlikely.  There  was  something 


"O  God  defend  me!  how  am  I  beset!"    519 

straightforward  in  her  nature  which  would  shrink  from 
the  adoption  of  an  alias.  She  would  be  teaching  under 
the  title  of  Mrs.  McAllister  or  Constance  Fraser. 

Would  she  visit  her  own  home?  No.  Her  parents 
would  know  nothing  of  this  disruption  if  she  could  pre- 
vent the  knowledge  reaching  them.  She  was  proud  in 
her  quiet  way  and  would  be  loath  to  admit  that  she  had 
made  a  wreck  of  her  life.  Then  why  had  she  not  warned 
him  against  going  to  them  as  she  had  counselled  him 
against  recourse  to  detectives?  Probably  because  the 
thought  had  not  occurred  to  her.  One  could  not  remem- 
ber everything  at  such  a  moment.  She  had  married  in 
opposition  to  the  will  of  her  father;  she  had  made  her 
choice  and  must  abide  by  it ;  she  could  not  add  so  great 
a  grief  to  her  mother's  burden ;  her  native  town  might 
learn  of  her  failure,  but  not  through  any  confession  of 
hers. 

Thus  McAllister  reasoned  himself  to  Chicago.  His 
reasoning  was  good,  and  his  deductions,  in  the  main,  ac- 
curate, yet  never  once  was  the  missing  woman  at  the  end 
of  a  clue.  His  natural  confidence  sustained  him  through 
many  a  disappointment,  but  now  and  then  periods  of 
deep  depression  came  upon  him,  and  the  world  looked 
blue.  Certain  cities  and  towns  were  ever  afterward  as- 
sociated in  his  mind  with  boding  misery,  and  the  utter- 
ance of  their  very  names  would  chill  the  brightest  day. 

He  was  passing  through  one  of  these  valleys  of  gloom 
in  Cincinnati.  The  State  of  Ohio  had  been  thoroughly 
but  fruitlessly  searched,  and  he  sank  into  a  chair  in  the 
vast  hall  of  the  hotel  a  completely  discouraged  man, 
lacking  the  energy  to  move  further  east,  in  continuation 
of  his  unavailing  quest.  The  sights  and  sounds  of  a 
big  hotel's  activities  went  on  around  him  unnoticed.  He 
sat  there  a  figure  of  despondency,  hands  deep  thrust  in 
his  trousers  pockets,  hat  drawn  down  over  his  eyes. 

"'Number  37,  Number  37,"  a  boy  was  calling  in  high 
plaintive  tones  and  getting  no  answer. 

"  If  I  could  write  as  Connie  can,"  muttered  the  man 
to  himself,  "I'd  go  to  my  room  and  put  down  just  how 
I  feel,  and  I'd  keep  the  paper,  so  that  if  ever  I  got  dis- 


52O  The  Victors 

couraged  again  I'd  read  it,  and  know  the  lowest  point  a 
man  can  reach — and  live." 

"  Number  37,  number  37.'' 

"  I  can  never  feel  worse  than  I  do  now.  Even  if  I 
knew  she  was  dead — why — that  ought  to  be  worse,  of 
course — but  I  don't  know.  I  guess  the  accumulation  of 
all  the  failures  which  I  bear  up  under  at  the  time  kind 
of  comes  down  on  me  at  once,  all  of  a  heap — and  that 
way — " 

"  Number  37.     Telegram  for  number  37." 

"  I  wonder  if  the  things  I  didn't  do  heaped  them- 
selves up  on  Connie  like  that  until  she  couldn't  bear  them 
any  longer;  yet  why  didn't  she  speak?  I'd  have 
shouted." 

"  Number  37,''  wailed  the  boy,  going  down  a  corridor, 
his  cry  diminishing. 

Some  sentinel  in  McAllister's  brain  was  warning  him ; 
some  alert  remnant  of  his  active  mind  was  on  duty  while 
the  rest  remained  dormant.  It  aroused  him.  He  drew 
in  his  feet;  pushed  back  his  hat. 

"  Hey,  boy.     Bring  that  here.     I'm  37  " 

The  boy  came  forward  with  an  injured  air.  Why 
hadn't  he  said  so  long  ago?  He  was  there  all  the  time. 

McAllister  tore  open  the  envelope.  It  contained  sev- 
eral sheets;  an  unusual  thing  with  a  telegram.  He  read 
and  sat  motionless  for  a  few  minutes,  then  rose  la- 
boriously and  went  over  to  the  marble  counter,  with  the 
bearing  of  an  old  man. 

"  What  time  is  there  a  train  for  New  York  ?  " 

The  clerk  told  him. 

"  When  does  it  reach  there  ?  " 

The  clerk  consulted  a  folder  and  stated  the  time. 

"  Secure  a  berth  for  me  on  that  train,  and  have  my 
bill  ready." 

"  All  right,  Mr.  McAllister." 

He  went  over  to  the  telegraph  corner,  wrote  a  mes- 
sage and  paid  for  it,  then  took  the  elevator  to  his  floor 
and  locked  himself  in  Number  37.  He  spread  the  tele- 
graphic sheets  on  the  table  and  stood  looking  at  them. 

"  Funny,  what  a  woman  will  say  in  a  message,"  he 


"O  God  defend  me!  how  am  I  beset!"    521 

murmured.  "  She  thinks  it  as  secret  as  a  letter. 
Enough  to  bankrupt  a  business  in  itself,  that  telegram. 
Poor  Jim,  poor  old  Jim !  " 

He  had  to  clear  his  eyes  once  or  twice  before  he  could 
read  the  words  again. 

"  Benjamin  McAllister,  Grand  Hotel,  Cincinnati 

"  Come  to  New  York  at  once.  James  Monro  has  been 
clubbed  nearly  to  death  by  the  police,  and  now  lies  in 
Compton  Hospital  hovering  between  delirium  and  un- 
consciousness. He  is  suffering  from  concussion  of  the 
brain  and  brain  fever.  Your  business  is  in  peril  and 
will  be  ruined  if  you  remain  longer  away.  I  have  asked 
Holderness  to  assume  charge  until  you  return,  but  don't 
delay.  Telegraph  me  the  hour  and  station  of  your  ar- 
rival and  I  will  meet  your  train  with  the  carriage. 

"  GRACE  VAN  NESS." 

The  reader  of  this  serious  communication  walked  up 
and  down  the  room,  and  for  a  time  it  seemed  that  the 
message  had  made  small  impression  on  him,  as  a  man 
already  soaked  by  the  rain  cares  little  that  he  has  stepped 
into  the  brimming  ditch.  But  by-and-by  the  news  began 
to  bear  him  down  and  his  bent  shoulders  bowed  still  fur- 
ther under  it.  At  last  he  paused,  sank  on  his  knees  be- 
side the  bed  and  buried  his  face  in  the  counterpane, 
shaken  with  grief. 

"  O  God,  O  God,  why  hast  Thou  forsaken  me? 
What  have  I  done,  what  have  I  done?  Has  this  last 
come  upon  me  in  my  darkness  because  I  said  I  was  on 
the  lowest  step,  and  now  there  is  another,  and  perhaps 
another  still?  O  God,  have  pity  on  me,  a  broken  man. 
I  have  vaunted  and  I  am  humbled ;  I  was  a  braggart  and 
am  laid  low.  But,  O  righteous  Lord,  visit  not  my 
shortcomings  upon  the  innocent.  Jim  was  patient  and 
true  and  faithful — the  better  man — the  uncomplaining, 
honest  heart.  Just  and  merciful  Father,  show  Thy  jus- 
tice and  mercy  to  him,  and  let  Thy  wrath  fall  on  the 
head  that  merits  it.  Wipe  me  from  the  face  of  the  earth 
I  cumber — I  am  not  wanted — there  is  not  a  living  soul 


522  The  Victors 

that  needs  me;  a  boaster,  vain  of  his  strength;  but  in 
my  stead,  spare  Jim,  who  never  in  thought  or  deed  did 
harm  to  the  least  of  Thy  creatures.  Restore  him  to 
health  and  strength  and  sanity. 

"  If  it  be  Thy  will  that  what,  in  vanity,  I  called  the 
work  of  my  days  and  nights  is  to  meet  wreck,  save  yet 
a  remnant  for  my  wife.  Let  her  not  feel  the  yoke  of  de- 
pendence, the  grasp  of  poverty.  Never  allow  a  doubt 
to  visit  her  of  the  step  she  took,  for  it  was  of  Thy  wise 
ordering ;  but  if  I  am  to  live,  oh,  give  her  back  to  me,  that 
thus  I  may  atone.  And  now,  O  God,  direct  Thou  my 
feet;  clear  my  wearied  brain  of  all  weak  human  purpos- 
ings,  and  leave  it  waiting  untrammelled  for  Thy  com- 
mands ;  make  it  sensitive  to  receive,  quick  to  understand ; 
and  this  I  ask  for  the  sake  of  Him  that  suffered  as  man 
and  bore  it  as  God." 


CHAPTER   VII 

"  WILL     RAIN     HOT     VENGEANCE     ON     OFFENDERS  " 

MANY  an  eye  turned  for  a  second  glance  at  the  superb 
young  woman  who  paced  the  platform  waiting  for  the 
western  train,  now  some  minutes  overdue.  Grace  Van 
Ness  was  entirely  self-absorbed,  taking  small  note  of 
the  throng  around  her.  She  conned  in  her  mind  the 
coming  interview  with  McAllister,  trying  to  surmise 
the  line  of  action  he  would  take,  resolved  to  influence 
him  from  it  if  it  ran  counter  to  her  own  fixed  purpose, 
yet  fearing  she  might  not  succeed,  for  she  knew  him  to 
be  a  strenuous  man,  overpowering  opposition  rather  than 
yielding  to  it;  tenacious  until  he  had  wrenched  success 
from  reluctant  circumstance.  She  was  determined  not  to 
reveal  her  love  for  the  young  man  now  laid  low,  but  of 
that  she  had  little  fear;  McAllister  was  colour  blind  to 
any  hue  except  the  tint  at  which  he  habitually  gazed.  He 
was  so  single-minded,  so  intent  on  the  subject  immedi- 
ately under  discussion,  that  an  inadvertent  phrase,  an  in- 
cautious admission  had  no  effect  upon  him.  He  always 
took  the  straight  road,  and  had  no  wandering  eye  for  the 
by-paths. 

The  sonorous  clangour  of  the  swaying  engine  bell  an- 
nounced the  approach  of  the  train ;  the  girl  roused  her- 
self from  reverie  and  became  alert.  People  eager  to  be 
in  the  turmoil  dropped  off  the  slowing  train  like  ripe 
fruit  from  a  shaken  tree.  The  passenger  she  sought  was 
one  of  the  last  to  step  down,  and  this  struck  her  as  sin- 
gular. She  watched  him  with  dismay  as  he  quitted 
the  car  timorously,  as  if  afraid  of  a  stumble.  Was  this 
bent  ghost  the  man  on  whose  strength  she  had  counted? 
Had  the  blow  that  left  her  straight  against  the  storm 
fallen  so  heavily  on  him?  Then  was  friendship  greater 

523 


524  The  Victors 

than  love ;  he  submissive  and  crushed ;  she  tingling  for 
revenge.  The  hope  that  had  buoyed  her,  that  bade  her 
look  forward  to  a  coming  champion,  died  in  her  heart. 
This  bowed  figure  did  not  tread  with  the  free  step  of  the 
conqueror ;  his  was  the  faltering  walk  of  the  countryman 
timid  of  the  town. 

"Mr.  McAllister." 

"  O,  Miss  Van  Ness.     How  is  he?  " 

"  There  is  no  change  either  for  the  better  or  the  worse. 
I  sent  up  to  the  hospital,  knowing  you  would  be  anxious." 

"  Yes,  yes.  That  was  good  of  you,  and  it  is  kind  to 
meet  me  here.  What  do  the  doctors  say?" 

'  They  are  non-committal.  They  say  he  has  great 
bodily  strength,  and  that  this  is  in  his  favour;  but  they 
always  say  that." 

"  Yes ;  nevertheless  it's  true.  Now  is  the  time  when 
Jim's  straight  life  will  stand  his  friend.  Poor  old  Jim  ; 
what  in  Heaven's  name  did  they  club  him  for?  " 

"  I  don't  know.  Come  this  way,  Mr.  McAllister. 
The  carriage  is  here.  Would  you  like  to  drive  first  to 
the  hospital?  You  won't  be  allowed  to  see  him,  you 
know." 

"  I  suppose  not.  Poor  Jim !  poor  Jim !  But  we'll 
drive  there,  if  it  isn't  taking  you  out  of  your  way." 

"  Out  of  my  way  ?  Why,  Mr.  McAllister,  that's  what 
I  am  here  for." 

He  murmured  disconnected  thanks  and  she  gave  brief 
directions  to  the  coachman ;  then  they  stepped  into  the 
carriage. 

"  Now,  Mr.  McAllister,  what  have  you  made  up  your 
mind  to  do?  Jim — Mr.  Monro  is  in  good  hands,  with  the 
best  attendance  in  New  York.  You  can  do  nothing 
further  for  him." 

"  Tell  me  about  it,  Miss  Van  Ness ;  when  did  it 
happen  ?  " 

"  On  the  night  of  Decoration  Day.  He  was  arrested 
on  some  pretence  or  other,  and  taken  to  Oswald  Street 
police  station.  It  seems  he  is  recorded  there  as  having 
been  drunk  and  violent.  He  resisted  the  police,  they 
say.  He  was  brutally  assaulted,  thrown  into  a  cell,  kept 


"  Will  rain  hot  vengeance  on  offenders  "     525 

there  all  night,  and  let  out  on  bail  next  morning.  He 
seems  to  have  spent  part  of  the  day  in  his  own  rooms, 
but  went  to  the  store  in  the  afternoon.  Mr.  Holderness 
noticed  that  he  was  not  in  his  usual  form,  but  Mr.  Monro 
said  that  he  had  been  up  all  night,  and  Holderness 
thought  no  more  of  the  matter.  He  appears  to  have 
been  the  last  to  leave  the  store,  and  no  one  knows  where 
he  went,  but  late  that  night  he  came  to  the  door  of  Dr. 
Marshall's  house  and  fainted  on  the  threshold.  Dr. 
Marshall  is  a  neighbour  of  ours  and  an  old  friend  of  my 
father's." 

"  Oh,  that's  how  you  came  to  hear  about  it.  What  a 
lucky  thing." 

"  Dr.  Marshall  treated  him  and  took  him  in  an  ambu- 
lance to  the  hospital  and  asked  the  doctor  to  get  the  best 
advice  and  secure  the  best  accommodation.  He  has 
done  so." 

"  How  did  the  doctor  know  who  he  was  ?  " 

"  Well — well — you  know — your  telegram  was  found 
in  his  pocket — the  telegram  from  Cincinnati." 

"  I  see.     And  that's  where  you  got  my  address  ?  " 

"  Yes,  and  telegraphed  you  next  day,  after  asking 
Holderness  to  take  charge." 

"  When  it  was  to  be,  how  fortunate  it  all  turned  out. 
Miss  Van  Ness,  you  have  proved  a  friend  indeed,  as  you 
have  done  before." 

"  Well,  you  see,  I  am  interested  in  the  store." 

"  Of  course,  of  course.  We  must  all  do  our  best — 
under  guidance — under  guidance." 

"  Then  what  is  the  first  thing  you  propose  to  do?" 

"  I — I  don't  know." 

"You  don't  know?     Haven't  you  made  any  plans?" 

"  No.     I  tried  to  avoid  making  them." 

"  Why,  Mr.  McAllister,  you  amaze  me.  Do  you  mean 
to  say  that  you  have  marked  out  no  course  of  action 
since  you  got  my  telegram  ?  " 

"  No.  I  shall  have  to  set  about  getting  some  money, 
I  suppose.  Over  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  will  have 
to  be  raised  somehow ;  so  Jim  said  in  his  last  letter.  I 
didn't  think  things  were  as  bad  as  that.  I  thought  per- 


526  The  Victors 

haps  you  could  assist  me  there.  If  you  would  say  a 
good  word  to  your  father — 

"  My  father  is  in  San  Francisco ;  has  been  west  for 
three  weeks ;  won't  be  home  for  a  month  yet." 

The  girl  was  leaning  back  in  the  carriage,  lips  tightly 
closed,  a  flashing  despair  snapping  from  her  glorious 
eyes,  as  he  glanced  uneasily  at  her,  she  having  answered 
him  so  shortly. 

"  Well,  I  can  hold  off  for  a  month.  He  could  help 
me  to  get  up  a  little  syndicate,  your  father  could — I 
know  times  are  hard,  but — " 

She  roused  herself,  and  the  words  faltered  on  his  lips. 

"  A  little  syndicate !  Money,  money,  money,  and  your 
friend — the  man  who  stuck  by  you  through  thick  and 
thin  lying  at  the  gates  of  death,  flung  against  them  by 
those  unscourged  ruffians." 

"  But — but  you  said  yourself  that  we  can  do  nothing 
more  for  Jim  than  is  being  done  for  him.  Willingly 
would  I  take  his  place —  Yes,  he  has  stuck  by  me  as  you 
say;  no  one  knows  better  than  I  how  true-hearted  he  is. 
Money?  Every  cent  I  possess  or  hope  to  possess  I'd 
squander  to  see  him  well  again.  But  what  can  I  do? 
What  can  I  do?" 

"  Do  ?  You  can  crush  the  nest  of  vipers  that  stung 
him." 

"  But  that  won't  help  Jim,  Miss  Van  Ness.  That  is 
mere  revenge,  from  which  we  should  clear  our  hearts. 
'  Vengeance  is  mine  and  I  will  repay,  saith  the  Lord.'  " 

"  I  wonder  how  often  that  scriptural  phrase  has  been 
used  as  a  shield  by  cowards  afraid  to  do  their  duty?  But 
I  can  match  it.  '  Slay  and  spare  not,'  saith  the  Lord. 
I  can't  give  you  chapter  and  verse,  but  I'm  sure  it's  in 
the  book.  If  vengeance  is  the  Lord's,  surely  we  are  His 
instruments." 

"  Yes,  yes,  we  are,  but  we  must  guard  against  taking 
our  own  human  passions  for  the  mandate  of  heaven/' 

"  We  are  as  the  Lord  made  us,  human  passions  and 
all." 

"  Yes,  but  our  passions  are  for  us  to  curb.  You  cry 
for  vengeance — " 


"Will  rain  hot  vengeance  on  offenders "    527 

"  I  don't." 

"  Then  I  have  misunderstood  you." 

"  I  dare  say.  I  am  merely  at  this  moment  learning 
the  kind  of  vengeance  the  Lord  has  in  store  for  those 
brutes.  That  vengeance  will  fall  is  certain." 

"  Why  do  you  think  so?  " 

"  Listen  to  me,  Mr.  McAllister.  I  have  no  brother  to 
whom  I  can  appeal;  my  father  is  away,  and  would  not 
understand  my  feeling  if  he  were  here.  I  looked  to  you, 
the  life-long  friend  of  the  stricken  man — as  toward  the 
indignant  personification  of  justice.  I  am  bitterly  dis- 
appointed. I  find  you  an  inert  text-quoter,  talking  of 
syndicates ;  I  ask  you  to  act  and  you  demur.  Very  well. 
The  Lord  evidently  intends  me  to  act  in  your  place.  I 
shall  go  down  Broadway  after  I  leave  you,  buy  the  best 
revolver  to  be  had — " 

"  Miss  Van  Ness,  you  don't  know  what  you  are  say- 
ing. Why — is  it  possible  that  after  all  you  care  for  Jim 
— in  that  way — that — " 

"  Mr.  McAllister,  you  were  inane  before ;  now  you  are 
stupid.  Cannot  you  credit  a  woman  with  any  civic 
pride  ?  We  women  did  not  set  up  this  government ;  you 
men  did,  and  when  one  is  clubbed  to  death  I  suppose  the 
others  are  thankful  they  escaped.  They  want  to  make 
money ;  to  form  syndicates.  Mr.  Monro  has  nothing 
to  do  with  my  action,  and  no  influence  over  it.  Was 
there  a  man  in  question  when  Joan  of  Arc  unfurled  the 
banner  of  France  and  fought  for  it?  I  never  heard  of 
him.  I  think  New  York  needs  a  Joan  of  Arc,  and  if 
New  York  will  accept  me,  I  am  ready.  The  statue  of 
Liberty  in  the  harbour  is  a  woman." 

"  Miss  Van  Ness,  I  will  do  whatever  you  tell  me  to, 
short  of  using  the  revolver." 

"  Then  go  at  once  to  the  chief  authority  of  this  town ; 
tell  him  of  the  crime  that  has  been  committed  and  de- 
mand instant  retribution  on  the  scoundrels." 

"  I'm  afraid  you  don't  know  New  York.  The  chief 
of  police  will  likely  laugh  at  me.  He  will  say — 

"  The  chief  of  police  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  matter, 
nor  the  Mayor  either.  They  are  but  creatures  of  the 


528  The  Victors 

Boss.  Surely  you  read  the  papers.  Go  direct  to  Ma- 
guire." 

"  To  Maguire?  As  well  complain  to  the  devil  that  one 
of  his  satellites  has  been  swearing.  Maguire  is  the 
biggest  thief  in  Christendom." 

"  Nevertheless  he  is  the  Boss.  He  can  act  effectively 
if  he  likes,  and  there  is  an  election  coming  on.  Tell  him 
how  many  employees  you  have  and  how  many  votes  you 
can  control.  Use  the  wisdom  of  the  serpent  as  well  as 
the  guilelessness  of  the  dove." 

"  I  shall  do  my  best,  and  if  that  doesn't  answer  we'll 
try  some  other  course." 

"Thank  you,  Mr.  McAllister,  and  now  please  forget 
all  the  harsh  things  I  said  to  you.  I  didn't  really  mean 
them.  When  my  father  returns  I  will  do  my  best  to  get 
him  interested  in  your  syndicate.  He  can  influence 
others,  so  I  think  there  will  be  little  difficulty  about  it." 

There  was  silence  in  the  carriage  until  it  stopped  at 
the  door  of  the  hospital. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

"  MAKE    A    SCARECROW    OF    THE    LAW  " 

WHEN  you  want  to  find  the  Boss,  ask  a  policeman. 
McAllister  did  so,  and  learned  that  Maguire  lived  at  the 
Windsor  Hotel,  had  lived  there  for  years  and  years,  but 
was  usually  to  be  found  in  the  Aboriginal  Club,  where  he 
possessed  a  private  room. 

To  this  club,  therefore,  McAllister  went,  sent  up  h  s 
card  to  Mr.  Maguire  and  was  shown  into  a  waiting-room 
at  one  side  of  the  entrance.  The  hall  porter  could  not 
tell  him  whether  the  Boss  was  in  or  not.  There  were  a 
great  number  of  people  hovering  about  in  this  waiting- 
room  hoping  to  see  him.  McAllister  had  spoken  to  the 
hall  porter  several  times  about  the  delay,  but  got  little 
satisfaction,  for  that  individual  was  evidently  case- 
hardened  against  enquiry  and  people  who  wanted  to 
know.  One  fellow-victim  said  to  Ben,  seeing  his  uneasi- 
ness: 

"  That's  the  Boss's  carriage  out  at  the  door,  and  you 
may  be  sure  that  as  long  as  it's  there  he;ll  be  here*.  When 
it  drives  off  he'll  be  in  it,  and  you'll  see  no  more  of  him 
this  day." 

McAllister  thanked  his  informant  and  continued  to 
wait.  At  last  he  saw  an  acquaintance  come  up  the  steps, 
and  went  out  into  the  hall  to  intercept  him. 

"  Hello,  Sanderson !  " 

"  Hello,  McAllister !     I  heard  you  were  out  of  town." 

"  Got  back  from  the  West  this  morning.  I  wanted  to 
see  Maguire,  but  I'm  afraid  of  striking  root  in  that  wait- 
ing-room." 

"  Come  on  in  with  me.  You're  not  a  member,  I  take  it  ? 
Well,  come  in.  You'll  be  a  friend  from  the  West.  We're 
barred  from  admitting  New  Yorkers.  I'm  not  very  well 

34  S29 


530  The  Victors 

acquainted  with  Maguire,  but  we're  sure  to  find  some 
one  here  who  can  take  you  up  to  him.  He  may  be  in  the 
back  room  himself,  but  it's  not  likely.'' 

They  passed  through  a  large  apartment  whose  chief 
ornament  was  a  huge  oil  painting  of  the  Boss,  then  into 
a  further  room  containing  many  tables  with  groups  of 
politicians  round  them,  drinking. 

"  Do  you  know  the  Mayor  ?  "  whispered  McAllister's 
guide. 

"  No." 

"  Well,  he's  a  good  fellow,  and  if  the  Boss  is  available 
he'll  fix  you  all  right.  Mr.  Grady,  I'd  like  to  make  you 
acquainted  with  Mr.  McAllister  of  McAllister,  Monro  & 
Co.  Say,  John,  Mr.  McAllister  wanted  to  see  His  Nibs. 
Could  you  arrange  it  for  him  ?  " 

The  Mayor  had  shoved  back  his  chair  and  now  stood 
up.  He  shook  hands  cordially  and  expressed  pleasure  at 
the  introduction. 

"Won't  you  join  us,  Mr.  McAllister?  /ou  will,  I 
know,  Sanderson.'' 

"  Well,  it's  not  in  my  day,  John,  but,  seeing  it's  you,  I 
don't  mind,"  replied  Sanderson  affably. 

"  I  never  take  anything,  thank  you,''  said  McAllister. 

"  Well,  gentlemen,  just  excuse  me  a  minute.  Come 
this  way,  Mr.  McAllister." 

They  went  upstairs  to  a  door  that  was  guarded  by  a 
man  in  uniform,  but  he  gave  way  before  the  Mayor  and 
threw  open  the  door.  In  a  big  chair  tilted  back  with 
his  feet  on  the  table  sat  a  corpulent  man,  whose  heavy 
jowl  and  face  were  of  the  unhealthy  colour  of  paste ;  a 
man  who  drank  too  much,  smoked  too  much,  ate  too 
much  and  walked  too  little.  The  sight  of  him  brought 
no  recollection  to  McAllister,  save  that  which  comes 
from  meeting  in  the  flesh  one  whose  portrait  has  often 
been  seen  in- print. 

A  group  of  men  occupied  various  positions  round  the 
table,  some  sitting  in  chairs,  others  astride  them,  chin 
resting  on  the  backs,  others  again  standing.  All  looked 
over  their  shoulders  as  the  Mayor  and  his  companion  en- 
tered. 


"Make  a  scarecrow  of  the  law"        531 

The  chief  was  relighting  a  half-smoked  cigar. 

"Are  you  busy,  Maguire?  Am  I  intruding?"  en- 
quired Grady. 

"  Not  at  all,"  cried  the  Boss  cordially,  throwing  away 
his  match,  making  a  bad  shot  at  an  over-full  spittoon. 
"  Come  right  in,  John.  Anything  new?  " 

"  No.  I  wanted  to  introduce  to  you  Mr.  McAllister, 
who  dropped  in  to  see  you." 

The  leaden  eye  of  the  Boss  travelled  over  the  new- 
comer, but,  if  dull,  it  was  an  eye  long  accustomed  to 
measuring  men  and  recognising  those  but  casually  met 
before.  The  feet  of  Maguire  fell  suddenly  from  table  to 
floor,  and  the  chair  stood  on  four  legs  instead  of  two. 

"  What !  It  can't  be.  Do  you  tell  me  this  is  the  ped- 
ler  of  Michigan  ?  The  boy  I  met  when  I  was  young  and 
innocent  on  the  heights  of  Ann  Arbor?" 

"  Why — you're  never — "  stammered  Ben,  unable  to 
get  further.  * 

"  I'm  damned  if  it  isn't.  Well,  well,  well,  well,  if  this 
doesn't  beat  shooting  ducks,  as  the  old  woman  said." 

He  rose  with  difficulty  to  his  feet  and  smote  Ben  a  ter- 
rific blow  on  the  back  with  his  open  palm. 

"  Come  and  sit  down.  Thank  you,  John,  for  bringing 
in  an  old  friend — oi  me  boyhood's  days.  Clear  out  every 
mother's  son  of  you ;  I'm  going  to  have  a  talk  of  old 
times.  What'll  ye  drink?" 

"  I  offered  him  the  hospitalities  of  the  club  down- 
stairs, Pat,  but  he  doesn't  drink/'  said  the  Mayor,  as  the 
others  scuttled  for  the  door. 

"  Well,  well,  and  ye  haven't  got  over  that  yet.  It's  far 
I've  travelled  beyond  ye,  then,  for  I'm  beginning  to  take 
a  sup  with  the  rest  of  them,"  he  chuckled,  fatly,  while 
McAllister  stared  at  him,  trying  to  see  in  this  unwieldy 
form  any  attribute  of  the  clean-limbed  young  athlete  who 
had  so  easily  overcome  himself  and  friend  on  the  dusty 
road  of  Michigan. 

"  They're  waiting  for  me  downstairs,"  said  the  Mayor, 
"  so  I'll  leave  you  two  together." 

"  All  right,  John.  Just  tell  the*  gossoon  at  the  door  to 
let  nobody  in.  Let's  see.  Your  name  was  Jim,  wasn't  it?  " 


532  The  Victors 

"  No.  That  was  my  friend  Monro.  Ben  is  my 
name." 

"  Ah,  yes,  so  it  was.  I  remember  now.  I  never  liked 
the  other  fellow,  but  you  were  a  white  man  clear  through. 
Well,  now,  it's  nice  of  you  to  have  dropped  in  to  see  an 
old  friend  this  way.  And  where  did  ye  settle  down  at 
last,  for  of  course  you're  not  peddling  now?  In  Detroit, 
I  suppose  ?  " 

"  No,  I'm  right  here  in  town.  I'm  head  of  McAllis- 
ter, Monro  &  Co.  on — '' 

"  What !  That  big  place  on  Sixth  Avenue  ?  Well, 
strike  me  blind  if  this  isn't  a  queer  world !  " 

The  Boss  leaned  his  arms  on  the  table  and  gazed 
across  at  his  visitor,  radiating  good  nature  and  childish 
pleasure  at  the  encounter. 

"  Say,  you're  never  the  McAllister  that  built  that  fine 
house  up  Fifth  Avenue?" 

"  Yes." 

"  Well  if  that  doesn't  beat  pig-sticking !  And  you 
and  me  rolling  round  over  each  other  on  the  dirt  road 
out  West  without  a  cent  in  either  of  our  pockets.  Say, 
Ben,  this  is  a  great  country ! " 

"  It  is  that." 

"  And  why  the  devil  did  you  never  drop  in  on  a  man 
before  this  late  day?" 

"  Why  didn't  you  drop  in  on  me?" 

"  I  had  no  more  idea  than  the  man  in  the  moon  that 
you—" 

"  Neither  had  I  that  you  were  the  Boss." 

"  Is  that  true  now  ?  Well,  well.  An'  ye  came  in  just 
by  accident  like  ?  '' 

"  Yes.     On  business." 

"  Well  now  that's  strange.  I  came  near  seeing  you  on 
business  myself  a  while  ago.  You  used  to  be  a  kind  of 
a  religious  cuss,  so  can  you  tell  me  who  \vas  that  fellow  in 
the  Bible  that  envied  the  other  man  his  possessions  and 
did  a  dirty  trick  to  get  it?  I  disremember  him  at  the  mo- 
ment, an'  ye  were  always  glib  at  the  Scriptures.'' 

"David  with  Uriah's  wife  perhaps?" 

"  No,  no.     I'm  talking  about  real  estate  now." 


"  Make  a  scarecrow  of  the  law  "        533 

"  Naboth's  vineyard  maybe." 

"  That's  it,  that's  it.  Well,  your  house  has  been  a  reg- 
ular Naboth's  vineyard  to  me.  You  see,  my  wife  took  a 
fancy  to  it.  She  thought  it  'ud  be  a  fine  place  to  hold 
Christian  Science  matinees  in  and  to  lodge  the  brethren 
and  sisters  when  they  came  to  town.  She's  great  on 
Christian  Science.  I  say  to  her :  '  Good  gracious,  isn't 
the  Windsor  Hotel  big  enough  for  ye?  Lodge  them 
there  for  the  good  of  trade.'  But  she  wants  a  house  of 
her  own,  an'  she  wanted  that  house.  Well,  I  found  out 
it  wasn't  to  be  had,  for  a  Dutchman,  or  a  Jew,  or  some- 
body offered  you  thousands  above  what  it  cost,  an'  ye 
wouldn't  look  at  him.  That's  why  I  was  going  to  see 
you  on  business,  but  I  wasn't  going  to  pay  all  me  hard- 
earned  savings  in  no  such  profit  as  you  seemed  to  want. 
So  I'm  thinking  of  duplicating  the  place  further  up  the 
street,  an'  I  tell  you  I'm  not  stuck  on  the  job,  because  I've 
enough  trouble  on  my  shoulders  as  it  is.  But  I  got  even 
with  you,  for  I  told  the  boys  to  stick  you  for  a  contribu- 
tion of  ten  thousand  dollars  to  Tammany.  Did  they  do 
lit?" 

"  They  did." 

Maguire  threw  himself  back  in  his  chair  and  laughed 
riotously,  his  sides  shaking  like  earthquakes. 

"  Oh,  that's  rich.  Little  did  I  think  I  was  turning  clown 
an  old  friend  who  lent  me  his  peddling  licence  when  I 
hadn't  one  of  me  own.  Well,  well.  I  know  why  ye 
called  to  see  me  now,  Ben,  an'  it's  all  right."  He  pressed 
the  button  and  the  doorkeeper  came  in.  "  Tell  Murchi- 
son  to  come  here  and  bring  the  assessment  book  with 
him." 

Presently  a  young  man  entered  carrying  a  huge  vol- 
ume. 

"  Turn  to  McAllister,  Monro  &  Co.  What's  against 
them?  Ten  thousand,  is  it?  Very  well;  that's  marked 
off.  Divide  it  round  among  all  those  that  haven't  paid 
up.  It'll  learn  'em  to  be  quick  at  settling.  All  right 
now.  Ye  can  go.  See  that  there's  no  mistake,  and  that 
these  people  are  not  bothered  again.  That's  all." 

The  young  man  departed  with  his  amended  book.  Ma- 


534  The  Victors 

guire  rubbed  his  thick  hands  together  gleefully,  for  all 
his  life  it  pleasured  him  to  oblige  a  friend.  "  We've 
wiped  that  off  the  slate,  an'  if  they  trouble  you  any  more 
just  you  come  to  me.  I'll  know  your  card  next  time  I 
see  it.  It's  a  fine  thing  to  be  generous  at  the  expense  of 
somebody  else,  and  now  that  I've  thrown  off  ten  thou- 
sand dollars  what'll  you  do  for  me  on  that  house — that 
Naboth's  vineyard?  Or  won't  you  sell  it  at  all  at  all? 
Or  do  you  want  a  Jew's  profit?  " 

"  I'll  sell.  I  don't  want  anybody's  profit.  You  threw 
off  ten  thousand  dollars  without  my  asking;  now  I'll 
throw  off  ten  thousand  dollars  without  your  asking.  I'll 
show  you  all  the  bills,  and  take  ten  thousand  dollars  less 
than  the  place  cost  me.'' 

• "  Indeed  you'll  do  nothing  of  the  sort.  Your  ten 
thousand  dollars  is  your  own,  and  mine  was  somebody 
else's.  If  I  object  to  be  a  Jew  on  one  side  of  the  fence, 
I'm  not  going  to  be  a  Jew  on  the  other.  I'm  an  honest 
dealer.  What  did  it  cost  you  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know  exactly.  Nearer  four  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  than  three  hundred  thousand.  The  papers 
are  all  in  the  safe  down  at  my  office.  You  see,  my  wife 
never  cared  for  the  place.  She  was  brought  up  in  a  cot- 
tage, and  has  no  use  for  a  palace." 

"  Do  you  tell  me  that  now  ?  It's  funny  how  women 
differ.  My  wife  was  raised  in  a  farmhouse.  Begobs, 
you  know  her !  " 

"Mrs.  Maguire?     No,  I  don't." 

"  Thunder  and  turf,  you  do.  She  was  Lottie  Byfield, 
in  that  Michigan  farmhouse  we  stayed  at." 

"  Is  that  a  fact  ?     Then  I  remember  her  well." 

"  We  had  a  great  misfortune,  Ben ;  lost  our  two  chil- 
dren. It  came  near  to  killing  Lottie ;  I  believe  it  would 
have  killed  her  if  it  hadn't  been  for  this  Christian  Science 
she  took  up.  Do  ye  know  anything  about  that  now  ?  " 

"  No,  I  don't." 

"  Well,  it's  a  great  scheme.  I  don't  understand  it 
thoroughly  myself,  but  it  means  that  nothing  much  mat- 
ters anyhow.  If  ye  get  a  kick  in  the  stomach  it  isn't 
there  at  all,  but  on  somebody  else,  so  there's  no  use  in 


"Make  a  scarecrow  of  the  law"        535 

you  making  a  fuss  about  it ;  do  ye  see  ?  It's  a  mighty 
consoling  contraption,  but  it  never  eased  my  pain  any  for 
the  loss  of  me  two  little  kids,  an'  the  remembrance  comes 
over  me  like  a  wave  sometimes,  till  I  gasp  for  breath,  an' 
in  the  most  unlikely  places,  too.  In  a  political  meeting, 
or  when  I'm  making  a  speech,  I  hear  their  voices  behind 
me,  although  I'm  thinking  of  something  else,  and  I  turn 
sharply  round,  but  I  see  nothing,  because  there's  noth- 
ing there,  or  because  my  eyes  are  not  in  condition.  It's 
a  long  time  ago  now,  but  their  voices  get  clearer  instead 
of  fading  away,  as  one  might  think,  an'  perhaps  that's 
because  my  health's  kind  of  broke.  I'll  die  in  the  good 
old  Catholic  faith,  Ben,  when  me  time  comes,  and  purga- 
tory will  melt  out  of  me  all  that's  not  fit  for  their  com- 
pany, an'  I'll  see  the  kids  again.  Poor  little  souls !  they 
needed  no  touch  of  it ;  they  got  their  purgatory  as  they 
left,  an',  please  God,  it  was  short  an'  they  knew  nothing 
of  it.''  The  heavy  throat  thickened,  the  Boss  left  his 
chair  and  walked  to  the  window,  looking  out  for  a  few 
moments.  Ben  sat  there  in  silence,  not  knowing  what 
to  say,  dimly  remembering  the  tragedy.  Maguire  was 
the  first  to  speak. 

"  Ah,  well,  we  were  talking  of  new  houses  and  modern 
things.  One  gets  rambling  here  and  there  when  they 
meet  an  old  friend.  An'  so  ye're  a  married  man.  Well, 
I  know  one  thing,  you're  a  good  husband.  Your  wife 
should  be  a  happy  woman.  God !  You're  not  like  me, 
keepin'  the  papers  from  her  so  she'll  not  see  what  other 
folks  think  of  me." 

"  I  don't  suppose  any  of  us  are  as  good  husbands  as 
we  ought  to  be,"  said  Ben  dolefully. 

"  An'  that's  true  for  ye.  Remember,  I'm  not  admitting 
for  a  moment  that  everything  the  papers  say  of  me  is 
gospel  fact.  It's  not.  I  believe  in  honesty  in  politics, 
an'  if  this  country  wants  that  same,  let  it  begin.  It  isn't 
for  the  poor  office-holder  to  begin.  He's  chucked  in  an' 
he's  chucked  out,  an'  his  honesty  is  counted  neither  in  his 
appointment  or  his  dismissal.  A  country  gets  just  what 
it  deserves;  just  what  it  pays  for.  A  man's  first  duty  is 
to  his  wife  and  family.  If  he  knows  that,  no  matter  how 


536  The  Victors 

hard  he  works  for  his  country,  or  his  city,  or  his  town, 
no  matter  how  honest  he  is,  he'll  be  fired  at  the  first 
change  of  administration ;  he'd  be  a  fool  not  to  take  what 
he  can  get  while  he's  got  the  chance.  The  people  are 
jawing  him;  why  shouldn't  he  jew  them?  Do  you  know 
there's  not  an  embassy  in  the  gift  of  the  United  States 
that  a  poor  man  dare  take,  because  the  place  will  cost  him 
from  three  to  ten  times  more  than  his  salary?  Is  that 
honest  of  this  country?  Is  it  democratic?  I  say  it  is 
not.  The  New  York  Central  railroad  pays  some  of  i^s 
chiefs  more  than  the  President  of  the  States  gets.  It  pen- 
sions its  good  men  when  they  are  too  old  to  work.  It 
never  asks  a  man  whether  he  is  democrat  or  republican, 
but  is  he  fit  for  the  place.  It  don't  bounce  a  man  because 
Jones  instead  of  Smith  bobj  up  in  Washington.  Why 
should  this  country  be  less  sane  and  less  honest  than  the 
Vanderbilts  ?  If  New  York  had  said  to  me,  '  Here,  Pat, 
you're  a  man  of  brains.  If  ye  work  for  the  city  ye  can't 
expect  to  make  a  fortune  like  McAllister,  for  he  has 
nothing  else  to  do,  but  we'll  see  that  neither  you  nor  your 
wife  wants  for  anything.  We'll  give  you  ten  thousand 
dollars  a  year,  an'  the  half  of  that  when  you're  used  up.' 
Why  it  'ud  'a'  had  the  most  capable  man  and  the  most 
honest  man  in  the  United  States.  But  instead  of  that  it 
gave  me  two  thousand  dollars  a  year  and  threw  me  out 
when  another  man  wanted  the  place.  Then  I  was  like 
the  fellow  in  Ireland  when  he  saw  the  pile  of  fish  on  the 
dock,  and  he  being  the  thief  of  the  town  the  owner  said, 
'  Mike,  I'll  give  you  sixpence  to  leave  them  fish  alone.' 
Mike  walked  round  the  pile,  looked  at  it,  shook  his  head 
and  said,  '  Thank  you,  I  can  do  better.'  That's  what 
I  say  to  New  York." 

"  But  he  stole  the  fish." 

"  He  took  what  he  needed,  I  daresay.  So  do. I,  but  I 
don't  call  it  stealing.  It's  getting  what  my  brains  entitle 
me  to.  And  I  give  good  value  for  the  money.  New 
York  is  to-day  the  best  governed  city  in  the  whole  world. 
There  is  no  place  on  earth  where  a  man  has  a  better 
chance  to  get  along;  where  he  can  make  more  money, 
an'  you  sit  there  an  example  of  what  I  say." 


"  Make  a  scarecrow  of  the  law  "        537 

"  I  don't  know  about  that,  Mr.  Maguire.  I  sit  here 
for  the  purpose  of  proving  to  you  the  contrary.  I  did 
not  come  to  see  you  about  that  ten  thousand  or  about  the 
house.  I  came  to  you,  who  have  no  official  connection 
with  the  city,  because  I  am  told  everywhere  that  the 
usual  channels  of  justice,  which  should  be  open  to  all 
citizens,  rich  or  poor,  are  practically  closed  to  those 
without  a  pull.  I  sit  here  because  my  partner,  Monro,  the 
person  you  do  not  like,  lies  at  the  point  of  death  in 
Compton  Hospital,  clubbed  into  insanity  by  the  captain 
and  his  men  at  Oswald  Street  police  station.  Arrested 
on  a  trumped-up  charge,  probably  because  he  refused  to 
pay  that  ten  thousand,  manhandled,  left  insensible  and 
crushed  all  night  in  a  cell  without  water  or  attendance, 
let  out  on  bail  next  morning,  bail  for  a  crime  he  had  not 
committed,  turned  on  the  streets  to  die,  if  it  so  chanced, 
he  staggered  raving  into  the  house  of  a  stranger,  and 
thus  got  first  succour.  There  is  the  work  of  your  free 
city,  Mr.  Maguire." 

The  Boss  sat  back  during  this  recital,  a  thunder-cloud 
gathering  on  his  brow,  a  gleam  of  almost  fiendish  anger 
darkly  lighting  his  heavy  eyes.  When  the  ghastly  cata- 
logue was  finished  he  broke  into  a  torrent  of  oaths,  ter- 
rible to  hear,  until  McAllister  shrank  appalled  in  his 
seat.  Maguire  seized  the  crank  of  a  telephone  which 
apparently  led  to  police  headquarters  and  turned  the 
handle  savagely.  "  Where's  the  chief  ?  Send  the  chief 
to  the  'phone  at  once.  Look  here,  chief — that  you? 
How  about  Monro  fanned  at  Oswald  Street  station? 
What!  Resisted  arrest?  Resisted  hell! — I  know  the 
man.  Haven't  your  damned  ruffians  any  brains  but 
what  they  can  club  out  of  another  man's  head?  You 
know  I  won't  have  that  sort  of  thing,  and  it  isn't  the  first 
time.  Now  you  act  at  once.  Dismiss  every  scullion 
there.  Arrest  the  captain  and  every  one  who  raised  a 
club,  and  see  that  they're  railroaded  where  they  belong. 
What?  It's  Maguire,  that's  who  it  is,  and  don't  make 
any  mistake  about  it  either.  Oh,  I  don't  want  any  apolo- 
ogies.  You  jump,  that's  all,  and  have  those  men  in  the 
cells  within  half  an  hour." 


538  The  Victors 

He  hung  up  the  receiver  and  seemed  to  subside  rather 
than  sit  down  in  his  big  chair,  the  excitement  disappear- 
ing as  suddenly  as  it  had  arisen,  leaving  his  face  a  mot- 
tled chalk  colour.  He  drew  his  handkerchief  across  his 
brow  and  breathed  with  labour. 

"  That's  the  material  we  have  to  work  with,  Ben,  and 
it's  poor  stuff  and  bad  stuff.  It  breaks  my  heart  to  hear 
what  you  say.  Sure  I  had  no  feeling  against  the  poor 
man,  an'  when  I  said  I  didn't  like  him,  that's  long  past 
and  I  know  nothing  of  him.  Is  he  badly  hurt  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  The  murdering  scoundrels.  Put  a  pig  in  a  parlour, 
an'  he's  still  a  pig.  I'd  like  to  pay  all  expenses  and  give 
what  compensation — '' 

"  Oh,  there's  no  need  of  that.  You've  done  more  than 
I  looked  for." 

"  Well,  as  the  Christian  Scientists  say,  there's  little  use 
worrying,  but  I'll  have  the  pravers  of  a  church  that 
amounts  to  something  put  up  for  him,  an'  that's  all  I  can 
do.  Let's  hope  for  the  best  an'  be  prepared  for  the 
worst.  I  mustn't  get  wrought  up  like  this.  I'm  not  the 
man  I  used  to  be,  when  forty  rod  couldn't  phase  me. 
Let's  talk  about  the  house.  You'll  sell?  " 

"  Yes.  Would  it  be  cash  down,  or  when  could  I  get 
the  money  ?  " 

"  To-morrow  if  you  like ;  to-day  if  you  need  it." 

"  Any  time.  The  house  is  furnished  throughout.  I 
suppose  you'd  want  to  furnish  it  yourself,  but  it  has 
never  been  occupied." 

That'll  be  as  the  missus  says.  It  'ud  suit  me  all 
right  as  it  is.  Can  we  go  through  it  now  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  Well,  I'll  just  telephone  Mrs.  Maguire  to  be  ready 
for  us.  My  carriage  is  at  the  door." 

"  Here  is  the  key." 

"You're  coming  with  us?" 

"  I  think  not.  You  and  Mrs.  Maguire  can  discuss  the 
matter  better  alone." 

"  Nonsense.  I  want  you  to  meet  Lottie.  You'll  not 
know  her.  She's  young  in  the  face,  but  her  hair  is  as 


11  Make  a  scarecrow  of  the  law  "        539 

white  as  the  driven  snow,  which  is  something  I  tell  her 
she's  not  entitled  to  for  years  yet.  Oh,  come  along,  an' 
we'll  settle  the  job  in  two  minutes." 

McAllister  hesitated,  but  the  proposal  was  too  impor- 
tant to  be  jeopardised  by  any  sentimental  reluctance. 

They  found  Mrs.  Maguire  waiting  for  them,  a  placid, 
happy,  white-haired  woman,  and  in  her  kind  eyes  lurked 
latent  worship  of  her  bulky  husband.  Respect  for  him, 
pride  of  him,  deep  affection  for  him  were  to  be  gathered 
from  the  gaze  she  rarely  withdrew  from  him.  It  took 
no  seer  to  tell  that  she  had  not  the  slightest  remembrance 
of  McAllister,  but  she  greeted  him  sweetly.  He  was  a 
friend  of  her  husband,  and  that  was  his  passport.  She 
introduced  to  him  Mrs.  LeGrue,  a  smiling  lady  from  Bos- 
ton, who  was  staying  with  her. 

"  Don't  talk  politics,"  Maguire  had  whispered  to  him, 
but  there  was  no  need  for  the  caution.  The  subject  was 
far  from  the  minds  of  the  ladies.  McAllister  gathered 
that  Mrs.  LeGrue  was  high  in  the  confidence  of  the 
Christian  Scientists,  had  been  a  martyr  in  the  cause,  and 
Mrs.  Maguire  was  no  doubt  a  treasured  member;  she 
had  built  several  churches  for  the  order,  including  one 
in  her  own  district  in  Michigan,  where  there  was  not  a 
Christian  Scientist  in  a  day's  ride. 

Arriving  at  the  deserted  mansion,  McAllister  opened 
the  heavy  door  for  them  with  a  feeling  akin  to  that 
which  characterises  a  superstitious  person  entering  a 
haunted  house.  They  all  came  in  exclaiming  at  the 
beauty  and  breadth  of  the  hall. 

"  What  a  perfect  place  for  a  meeting!  "  said  the  smiling 
Mrs.  LeGrue,  clasping  her  hands.  "  Why,  there's  even 
a  pipe  organ  at  the  further  side." 

But  McAllister  was  not  listening  to  eulogy.  He  had 
picked  up  a  letter  that  lay  on  the  floor,  probably  shoved 
under  the  door,  and  was  turning  it  over  and  over  in  his 
hands. 

"  Come  along,  girls,"  he  heard  Maguire  shout  boister- 
ously, "  and  let  Ben  read  his  correspondence." 

The  letter  was  postmarked  "  Mauch  Chunk  "  and  had 
been  addressed: 


540  The  Victors 

Miss  CONSTANCE  FRASER, 

Care  Mrs.   McAllister, 
Holland  House, 

New  York  City. 

The  name  of  the  hotel  had  been  marked  out  by  the 
clerk,  and  the  address  of  the  residence  further  up  the 
street  added.  The  postmark  showed  that  it  arrived  the 
day  after  he  had  left  the  empty  house.  Tremblingly  he 
tore  it  open.  Was  it  possible  that  chance  now  stepped 
in  where  reason  had  been  thwarted? 

"129  Carbon  Avenue, 

"  Mauch  Chunk,  Penn. 

"  DEAR  Miss  FRASER — Wednesday  will  suit  me  better 
than  later  in  the  week.  My  husband  will  meet  you  at  the 
depot,  but  should  you  miss  him,  or,  what  is  more  prob- 
able, should  he  not  reach  there  in  time,  take  a  cab.  All 
the  drivers  know  our  house.  The  children  are  most 
anxious  to  see  their  new  governess,  and  I  am  sure  you 
will  like  it  here,  although  the  place  seems  a  little  grimy 
to  strangers  at  first. 

"Yours  faithfully, 

"  BLANCHE  RICHARDSON." 

Somebody  was  speaking  to  him ;  he  heard  the  voice,  as 
a  submerged  man,  with  the  roaring  of  waters  in  his  ears, 
hears  a  shout  from  the  shore. 

"What— what  did  you  say?" 

"  Say  ?  I  say  this  house  is  immense ;  suits  me  down  to 
the  eround,  furniture  and  all.  It  couldn't  be  improved." 

"Couldn't  it?     That's  funny." 

"  Funny  that  a  purchaser  should  say  so  ?  Perhaps  it 
is.  but  I'm  an  honest  man.  I'll  take  the  shanty  just  as 
she  stands,  lock,  stock  and  barrel.  Why,  Ben,  what's  the 
matter?  You're  white  as  a  sheet  and  your  eyes  are 
swimming.  No  bad  news,  I  hope  ?  " 

"  I  think  not,  but — but  most  of  my  news  has  been  bad 
this  while  back,  and — I'm  scared,  that's  all." 


"  WHY,     THEN,    LET  S     HOME     AGAIN 

A  YEAR  before,  McAllister  would  have  taken  the  first 
train  to  Mauch  Chunk  and  gone  direct  to  the  house  of 
Mr.  Richardson.  He  would  have  consulted  a  time-table, 
estimated  the  distance  between  the  station  and  Carbon 
Avenue,  thus  concluding  his  mission  in  the  fewest  num- 
ber of  minutes  possible.  Now,  as  he  had  confessed  to 
die  Boss,  he  was  "  scared,"  his  nerve  was  gone ;  the  most 
capable  railway  engineer  who  has  been  through  a  wreck 
is  useless  until  he  has  had  time  to  recover  confidence. 

Ben  went  to  a  hotel  in  Mauch  Chunk,  reconnoitred 
the  house  in  Carbon  Avenue  as  cautiously  as  a  modern 
general  planning  an  assault,  once  or  twice  gathered  cour- 
age to  attack,  but  on  each  occasion  his  resolution  failed 
and  he  passed  on  as  if  he  were  the  most  casual  wayfarer. 
He  thought  of  writing  to  his  wife  from  the  hotel,  but 
feared  she  would  take  alarm  and  be  elsewhere  to  seek. 
He  dreaded  to  face  another  disheartening  campaign  of 
fruitless  search,  and  so  was  timid  lest  he  should  make 
a  mistake  of  tactics  now,  when  a  meeting  seemed  inevi- 
table. The  meeting  came,  as  it  was  bound  to  come,  but 
through  chance  and  not  as  a  result  of  his  designing.  He 
saw  her  walking  along  the  crowded  pavement,  tried  to 
summon  a  fitting  phrase  to  accost  her,  but  could  not,  and 
merely  stood  there,  his  mind  in  chaos,  until  she  came  up, 
and  then  mechanically  he  stepped  in  front  of  her. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,"  she  said,  attempting  to  pass  on 
the  other  side.  He  reached  forward  and  touched  her 
arm,  when  she  raised  her  eyes  in  momentary  alarm  and 
looked  at  him. 

"  O  Ben,  have  you  been  ill  ?  "  she  cried,  grasping  his 
hand. 

"  No,  Connie,  no.     Never  better,  never  better." 


542  The  Victors 

He  drew  her  hand  under  his  arm  and  walked  on  in  the 
direction  she  was  going,  neither  of  them  speaking  for  a 
few  moments. 

"  Are.  you  happy  in  that  place,  Connie,  at  your  old 
profession  ?  " 

"  As  happy  as  a  woman  ought  to  be  who  has  deserted 
her  husband.  Were  you  happy  to  be  rid  of  me  ?  " 

"  No.  Miserable.  But  I'm  happy  now  that  I've 
found  you.  I've  only  been  at  my  office  twice  since  you 
left ;  once  the  other  morning,  and  once  a  month  or  two 
ago." 

"Then  yc~  have  been  ill?" 

"  No ;  I've  been  travelling ;  West  mostly.  Here  and 
there.  Say,  Connie,  I  must  have  a  .talk  with  you.  Will 
you  come  to  my  hotel ;  we  can't  converse  here  in  the 
street  ?  " 

She  stopped  and  glanced  at  her  watch,  then  up  at  him 
with  a  smile.  "  You  gave  me  this  watch.  Do  you  re- 
member? " 

"  Yes,  but  I  hope  you  are  not  looking  at  it  to  tell  me 
you  haven't  time  to  talk  with  me." 

"  That  would  be  a  change  in  our  parts,  wouldn't  it, 
Ben?  I  was  just  seeing  if  it  was  too  late  for  a  train. 
We  have  time  if  we  walk  sharply." 

"  What !  To  New  York  ?  Will  you  go  to  New  York, 
Connie?  " 

"  In  the  opposite  direction,  Ben." 

"  Oh."  His  tone  fell  to  the  minor  key  again,  disap- 
pointment in  the  inflection.  They  walked  on  rapidly  in 
silence,  and  at  the  ticket  office  she  had  purchased  two 
tickets  before  he  thought  of  offering  to  do  so.  He 
seemed  quite  satisfied  that  she  should  lead,  he  following 
with  docile  concurrence.  This  was  strange  to  her,  and 
she  was  not  sure  that  she  liked  it.  For  months  past 
none  had  cared  whether  she  did  this  or  that ;  there  had 
been  no  one  to  take  the  liberty  of  brushing  aside  her  own 
inclinations,  as  if  from  the  beginning  of  time  it  had  been 
ordained  that  his  will  should  be  paramount,  unques- 
tioned. The  freedom  from  all  this  should  have  been  a 
boon  to  be  prized  above  everything,  yet  somehow  she 


"  Why,  then  let's  home  again  "         543 

found  herself  yearning  for  the  former  McAllister, 
genially  overbearing,  rather  than  the  unnaturally  patient 
man  beside  her,  nervously  anxious  to  please.  She  missed 
the  old  confident  ring  in  his  voice ;  the  air  of  decision ; 
the  feeling,  after  all,  of  being  protected,  cared  for.  She 
had  often  pictured  their  meeting,  knowing  he  would  find 
her  if  he  set  his  mind  to  the  task ;  he  accomplished  every- 
thing, and  any  attempt  on  her  part  to  elude  him  for  long 
was  hopeless  She  had  fancied  him  approaching  in 
haste,  grasping  her  by  the  arm,  saying  good-naturedly, 
but  finally:  "Hello,  Connie;  how  are  you?  We've 
had  enough  of  this  nonsense.  Come  home,"  and  it  was 
likely  she  would  have  gone,  swept  away  by  the  habit  of 
deferring  to  him.  But  she  had  been  entirely  unprepared 
for  the  McAllister  who  at  last  accosted  her,  who  followed 
unprotesting  where  she  ordered,  who  suggested  the  hes- 
itating manner  of  a  convalescent,  not  yet  sure  of  his  feet 
on  firm  ground.  This  brought  her  always  to  the  belief 
that  he  had  been  ill,  in  spite  of  his  disclaimer.  If  he  had 
not  been  ill,  then  was  the  change  inexplicable,  and  a 
strange  apprehension  filled  her  heart,  akin  to  the  fear  of 
those  who  have  once  had  experience  of  an  earthquake, 
and  who  never  after  regain  confidence  in  the  stability  of 
the  solid  world.  If  the  invariably  successful  Benjamin 
McAllister  lost  his  masterfulness,  in  whom  then  could 
she  look  for  it? 

They  took  rheir  places  together  in  the  train,  and  the 
journey  proved  short.  They  were  the  only  passengers 
who  got  out  at  a  way  station  in  the  gorge,  and  she  led 
him  by  a  path  up  the  densely  wooded  mountain.  Down 
the  hill  poured  a  crystal  foaming  torrent,  in  striking  con- 
trast to  the  larger  amber-coloured  river,  up  which  the 
railway  had  conveyed  them.  The  path,  now  on  one  side, 
now  on  the  other  of  the  various  cascades,  crossed  the 
stream  here  and  there  by  rustic  bridges,  with  here  and 
there  a  seat.  Sometimes  it  passed  under  a  waterfall,  the 
shimmering  liquid  veil  subduing  the  light  and  adding  a 
delicious  coolness  to  the  transit.  Deep  dark  pools  seemed 
stations  of  rest,  and  racing  rapids,  whose  spray-lashed, 
obstinate  jagged  rocks  tore  the  water  with  up-flung 


544  The  Victors 

showers,  were  typical  of  action.  The  whole  secluded 
stairway  was  embowered  with  rhododendrons  and  luxu- 
rious shrubbery,  foam-fed  and  dew-sprinkled,  while  over 
all  arched  the  primeval  forest  with  glimpses  of  a  blue, 
cloud-flecked  sky,  roofing  the  sylvan  retreat.  She 
brought  him  to  a  quiet  arbour  perched  high  above  their 
starting  point,  the  sound  of  roaring  water  subdued  to  a 
soothing  rhythm  through  the  mass  of  whispering  leaves. 
They  sat  down  together  on  a  bench. 

"  There,  Ben,  I  present  to  you  Glen  Onoko,  and  we 
have  it  entirely  to  ourselves.  Often  it  is  alive  with  ex- 
cursionists, but  to-day  we  own  it  as  the  Indians  did,  al- 
though they  had  no  such  modern  improvements  as  seats, 
bridges,  steps  and  a  footpath.  What  do  you  think  of 
it?" 

"  It  is  beautiful,  Connie ;  I  had  no  idea  so  smoky  a 
town  as  Mauch  Chunk  had  such  a  dell  in  its  vicinity,  al- 
though I  have  often  passed  through  the  place,  flying  on 
the  fast  express.'' 

"  The  fast  express !  Yes,  it  goes  by,  and  those  who 
live  on  it  see  little  of  what  is  on  either  side  of  them,  but 
they  do  get  to  their  destination  quickly." 

"  Ah,  Connie,  that's  a  rap  at  me,  isn't  it  ?  It's  like  a 
sentence  out  of  your  letter.  I  thought  it  a  hard  letter/' 

"  I'm  afraid  it  was.  Still,  you  should  make  allowance 
for  the  circumstances  in  which  it  was  written.  If  one 
who  commits  a  crime  chooses  to  set  forth  his  reasons 
when  the  deed  is  done,  I  don't  suppose  he  writes  very 
coherently." 

"  Connie,  you  did  care  for  me  once,  didn't  you  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes." 

"When  did  you  cease  to  care  for  me?" 

"  You  never  found  that  .in  the  letter.  A  woman  who 
had  ceased  to  care  would  have  stayed  to  enjoy  the  new 
house.'' 

"  A  woman  can't  care  for  a  man  and  leave  him." 

"Can't  she?" 

"  It  doesn't  seem  reasonable.  Deeds  speak  louder 
than  words." 

"  I'm  not  sure  that  they  do." 


11  Why,  then,  let's  home  again  "         545 

"  Certainly  they  do.     Talk  is  cheap." 

"  So  is  air.     Yet  it  is  impossible  to  live  without  it." 

"  You  surely  knew  that  my  whole  life's  work  was 
simply  devotion  to  you ;  that  I  valued  success  only  to  lay 
it  at  your  feet." 

"  You  never  told  me  so." 

"Did  it  need  the  telling?" 

"  It  needed  more  than  the  telling,  or  the  telling 
should  have  been  reiterated  very  often  to  have  been 
convincing.  Why,  Ben,  there  were  times  when  you 
forgot  my  very  existence  for  says  and  weeks.  You 
were  wholly  absorbed  in  your  business.  You  should 
not  only  have  told  me,  but  you  should  have  given  as 
much  thought  to  the  place  and  the  manner  of  telling 
as  you  gave  to  the  placating  of  some  capitalist  from  whom 
you  expected  to  obtain  money,  for  I  doubt,  latterly,  if  the 
telling  alone  would  have  persuaded  me  of  its  truth.  You 
should  have  brought  me  to  a  spot  like  this,  as  I  led  you 
just  now,  and  then  said  all  these  things  were  for  me,  and 
I  should  have  been  pleased  to  hear  it,  not  because  I 
cared  for  the  things,  but  because — because  I  cared  for 
you — and  you  were  with  me." 

"  Connie,  why  didn't  you  speak?  Why  did  you  let  me 
ero  on  and  on  for  years  and  never  say  a  word?  I'm  not 
finding  fault,  you  know,  but  why — why?  " 

"  What  I  wanted  had  to  come  spontaneously,  or  it  was 
of  no  value  in  my  eyes.  It  could  not  be  bargained  for — 
extorted.  I  might  have  worried  a  little  attention  from 
you,  perhaps,  but  you  would  have  given  the  attention  as 
you  gave  me  the  mone^  I — demanded.'  You  would  for- 
get next  day,  as  you  have  forgotten  that — I  did  speak. 
Do  you  remember  when  I  proposed  a  little  trip  up  the 
Hudson — not  a  whole  day,  of  course,  but  a  sail  in  the 
evening?  You  thought  it  an  excellent  idea,  and  advised 
me  to  go  alone  and  stay  all  night.  You  would  go  to  a 
hotel  in  New  York.  You  didn't  remember  that  proposal 
long  enough  to  ask  me  ever  after  if  I  had  gone,  so  now  I 
inform  you  that  I  didn't  go." 

Ben  made  no  reply ;  he  was  industriously  cutting  a 
notch  with  his  pocket-knife  in  the  arm  of  the  seat. 
35 


546  The  Victors 

"  I  must  confess  that  when  one  puts  it  into  words  it 
looks  like  a  case  of  petty  feminine  jealousy,  and  I  don't 
suppose  since  the  world  began  a  woman  ever  had  as  a 
rival  a  block  of  buildings,  but  I  have  often  gone  and 
looked  at  that  place  on  Sixth  Avenue  with  hatred  in  my 
heart  against  it,  saying,  '  You  hold  my  husband  with  a 
grip  I  cannot  unloosen.  His  thoughts,  sleeping  or  wak- 
ing, are  of  you.'  Once  as  I  stood  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  street,  watching  the  crowds  pouring  in  and  pour- 
ing out,  I  was  filled  with  wonder  and  amazement,  in 
spite  of  my  envy,  that  all  this  centre  of  activity  had  been 
created  practically  by  one  man,  in  one  fraction  of  a  short 
lifetime;  you  came  hurrying  out.  I  recognised  you  at 
once,  Ben,  in  all  that  mob.  You  came  at  a  gallop  across 
the  street,  nearly  knocking  me  down,  as  in  your  haste 
you  ran  against  me,  but  you  never  noticed  me.  I 
watched  you  through  the  plate  glass  of  the  restaurant, 
standing  by  a  counter,  not  having  a  meal,  but  gulping 
down  some  food,  whatever  happened  to  be  nearest  your 
hand,  and  I  wondered  who  had  told  you  you  were  hun- 
gry. You  never  would  have  thought  of  it  yourself.  Then 
out  again  and  away  across  to  your  office.  Always  the 
office,  the  office,  the  office!  I  don't  suppose  you  will 
understand  my  jealousy  of  it,  but  if  you  put  a  woman  in 
its  place,  then  perhaps  you  will  comprehend." 

"  Suppose  it  had  been  a  woman,"  said  Ben,  looking  up 
from  his  carving.  "  Suppose  I  had  been  as  devoted  to 
another  woman  as  I  was  to  my  work,  what  would  you 
have  done  ?  " 

"  Just  what  I  did  do.  I  should  have  left  vou  to  enjoy 
each  other's  company,  but  I  shouldn't  have  written  you 
a  letter." 

"  Is  that  awful  letter  to  be  regarded  as  a  hopeful  sign 
after  all?" 

"  Perhaps  it  is." 

"  Now,  Connie,  if  such  a  thing  could  be  imagined  as 
you  becoming  interested  in  another  man.  do  you  know 
what  I  would  do?  I'd  slaughter  him.  if  that  were  nec- 
essary, and  I'd  take  you  by  the  shoulders  and  give  you 
a  thorough  shaking.  I'd  say :  '  Here,  now,  you  behave 


"  Why,  then,  let's  home  again  "        547 

yourself ! '  But  you  couldn't  do  anything  on  this  earth 
that  would  make  me  abandon  you." 

"  The  inference  is  then  that  you — that  you  care 
more — '' 

"  Love  is  the  word,  Connie." 

"  That  you  love  me  more  than  I  love  you." 

"  I  think  I  do." 

"  I  came  to  believe  that  you  did  not  understand  the 
meaning  of  the  word,  Ben.  Why,  if  I  loved  a  person 
I  should  delight  to  lure  him  off  to  some  beautiful  place 
like  this ;  to  converse  with  him  and  be  with  him  alone. 
When  have  we  ever  seen  any  quiet  spot  outside  New 
York  since  we  were  married?  Do  you  remember  on  our 
wedding  journey  when  the  train  stopped  for  ten  minutes- 
at  a  wooden  platform  overlooking  Niagara  Falls?  I 
always  think  of  that  ten  minutes  as  our  honeymoon ;  you 
stood  beside  me,  Ben,  and  pointed  out  the  islands  and  the 
rapids.  You  had  seen  them  all  before,  while  I  hadn't, 
and  never  once  during  that  ten  minutes  did  you  glance  at 
your  watch.  You  think  me  foolish  in  remembering  little 
things,  I  know." 

"  I  don't.  Life  is  made  up  of  little  things,  I  suppose. 
How  curious  it  is  that  we  are  engaged  at  this  moment 
in  a  contest  as  to  which  cares  most  for  the  other.  And 
yet  we  have  been  separated,  Connie.  Are  you  glad  to 
see  me  now,  or  were  you  sorry  that  I  found  you?  " 

"  Very,  very  glad." 

"  Would  you  have  come  back  to  me  of  your  own  ac- 
cord if  I  hadn't  found  you  ?  " 

"  No." 

"  You  are  happy  where  you  are,  then  ?  " 

"  No." 

"  Well,  I  don't  understand  women ;  that's  all  about  it. 
If  I  were  unhappy  and  wanted  to  see  a  person  and 
knew  where  he  was,  I'd  go  to  him  by  the  quickest  train 
that  would  take  me." 

"  Have  you  really  been  searching  for  me  ever  since  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  Was  it  a  detective  discovered  where  I  lived  ?  " 

"  I  engaged  no  detective.  No  living  soul  knows  what 
happened.  I  spoke  to  none  about  it." 


548  The  Victors 

"  Not  even  Jim  ?  " 

"  Not  even  Jim,  poor  old  Jim." 

"  Why  do  you  say  that  in  such  a  doleful  tone  ?  " 

Then  came  the  story  of  his  wanderings ;  of  the  danger 
to  the  business ;  of  the  disaster  to  Monro.  She  listened 
absorbed,  gazing  intently  at  him  during  the  first  part  of 
the  recital ;  then  with  bowed  head  during  the  remainder.. 

"  Ben,  Ben,  what  a  wretch  you  make  me  out  to  be !  '' 
she  moaned  without  looking  up. 

"  Dear  girl,  I  haven't  even  mentioned  you,  nor 
thought  of  attributing  blame  to  you.  It  was  all  my  fault 
— most  of  it." 

"  What  a  selfish,  abominable  creature  I  am !  " 

"  Nonsense,  Connie.  No,  no.  If  you  will  consent  to 
give  me  another  trial  I'll  do  my  best — " 

"  Oh,  oh,  oh — "  she  covered  her  face  with  her  hands 
and  wept  without  making  further  answer  to  his  appeal, 
but  when  he  put  his  arm  around  her  and  drew  her  toward 
him  there  was  no  resistance. 


CHAPTER   X 

"  WITH   THEIR  TONGUES  DOOM    MEN    TO   DEATH  " 

THERE  was  a  plot  hatched  at  the  Aboriginal  Club 
which  differed  from  any  that  had  ever  before  come  to 
maturity  in  that  political  stronghold,  for  its  object  was 
the  rescue  of  a  man  enmeshed  in  a  silken  net,  the  slen- 
der strands  of  which  proved  stout  as  steel  against  the 
assaults  of  united  Tammany,  the  most  powerful  organ- 
isation the  city  had  ever  seen.  The  iron  government  of 
New  York  was  set  at  naught  by  a  little,  smiling  woman, 
who  held  to  her  rights  and  defied  Mayor  or  city  official- 
dom to  budge  her.  In  his  splendid  house  Maguire  lay 
ill.  With  the  best  medical  skill  at  her  disposal,  the  wife, 
serene  and  confident,  would  have  none  of  it.  Mrs.  Le- 
Grue,  the  martyr,  was  attending  the  ailing  man,  and  as 
in  multitude  of  counsel  there  is  wisdom,  eminent  pro- 
fessors of  the  cult  of  Christian  Science  were  bestowing 
upon  him  the  benediction  of  absent  treatment,  from  Bos- 
ton, Philadelphia.  Chicago  and  other  centres  of  light. 
They  sent  thought  waves  toward  him,  at  stated  hours, 
and  from  the  spray  of  these  mental  breakers  the  in- 
valid was  to  rise  refreshed.  The  palace  on  Fifth  Avenue 
was  the  Mecca  of  the  Christian  Scientists,  and  now  that 
the  strong  man  was  prone  none  other  was  allowed  to 
cross  its  threshold,  be  he  Tammany  or  whatever  else. 
Yet  there  was  one  exception.  Three  times  the  Mayor  of 
New  York  was  permitted  to  see  the  patient,  and  that 
through  the  special  grace  of  Mrs.  Maguire,  who  liked 
him,  and  knew  her  husband  liked  him.  At  each  suc- 
ceeding visit  Grady  saw  that  Maguire  was  in  worse  state 
than  he  had  been  at  the  time  of  the  previous  call.  On 
each  occasion  Maguire  had  been  delighted  to  see  him, 
and  had  pressed  him  to  come  oftener.  He  lay  on  a 

549 


55°  The  Victors 

couch  with  a  little  table  at  his  elbow,  on  which  were 
placed  a  bottle  of  whisky  and  a  box  of  strong  cigars ; 
two  stimulants  which  the  doctors  at  the  club  agreed 
should  be  kept  from  a  man  in  his  condition.  But  Mrs. 
Maguire  believed  that  absent  treatment  would  nullify 
any  evil  effects  of  present  indulgence  and  refused  to  be 
influenced  by  the  unenlightened  advice  of  regular  practi- 
tioners suggested  to  her  by  the  anxious  John  Grady. 
The  hopeless  feature  of  the  case  was  that  Maguire  him- 
self was  completely  under  the  gentle  influence  of  his 
wife  and  had  the  most  optimistic  belief  in  the  ultimate 
effect  of  her  ministrations.  He  was  all  right,  he  urged ; 
a  little  scant  of  breath,  perhaps,  and  rather  too  corpu- 
lent, but  a  few  weeks  at  Muldoon's  farm  would  remedy 
that  as  soon  as  he  was  on  his  legs  again.  As  for  a  drop 
of  whisky,  the  stuff  never  hurt  anybody,  and  a  cigar 
was  a  comforter. 

.  On  the  conclusion  of  his  third  interview  Grady  was 
seriously  alarmed.  His  friend  was  visibly  failing,  as 
any  eye  mght  see,  save  that  of  his  wife,  who  persisted  in 
her  evidently  sincere  belief  that  he  was  on  the  mend. 
She  herself  escorted  Grady  to  the  door.  In  the  ample 
hall,  which  had  witnessed  so  many  devout  gatherings  of 
the  Christian  Scientists,  he  expostulated  earnestly  with 
her  and  begged  her  to  allow  him  to  bring  Dr.  Marshall 
to  see  her  husband. 

Mrs.  Maguire  heard  him  with  the  lenient  patience 
with  which  one  listens  to  the  pleadings  of  a  favourite 
child  asking  for  something  it  may  not  have. 

"  I  do  not  doubt,  Mr.  Grady,  that  Dr.  Marshall  is  a 
most  estimable  man,  and  at  another  time  or  for  any 
other  purpose  I  should  be  pleased  to  have  him  visit  us, 
but  I  cannot  allow  my  husband's  mind  to  be  disturbed 
by  the  malign  influence  of  a  discredited  school  at  the 
present  moment.  I  am  so  sorry  to  refuse  you  even  such 
a  trivial  request." 

"  It  is  not  a  trivial  request,  Mrs.  Maguire.  Your  hus- 
band is  a  dying  man.  It  isn't  his  mind  that  needs  at- 
tending to,  but  his  body.  According  to  your  own  belief, 
Dr.  Marshall  can  do  no  harm,  and  your  husband's 


"  With  their  tongues  doom  men  to  death  "  551 

friends,  myself  among  the  number,  would  feel  very  much 
easier  if  they  knew  he  was  in  capable  hands.  Those 
absent  people  can  go  on  with  their  praying  just  the 
same." 

Mrs.  Maguire  smiled  indulgently  at  this,  as  if  it  were 
rather  a  poor  attempt  at  witticism. 

"  I  will  not  have  the  influence  of  those  absent  people, 
as  you  call  them,  diluted  by  the  presence  of  a  symbol  of 
old  world  ignorance  like  Dr.  Marshall." 

"  Then  their  ministrations  cannot  be  very  potent  if 
the  whole  aggregation  are  afraid  of  one  regular  physi- 
cian. The  doctor  has  no  such  fear ;  he  is  willing  to  come 
and  do  his  best  with  the  entire  Christian  Science  com- 
munity in  full  blast  against  him." 

"'  Ah,  Mr.  Grady,  you  speak  flippantly,  but  I'm  sure 
you  don't  mean  half  what  you  say,  and  I  know  you  are 
a  good  friend  of  Patsey's,  according  to  the  light  vouch- 
safed to  you." 

"  God  knows  I  would  do  anythine  for  him,  Mrs.  Ma- 
guire, and  I  want  to  see  every  means  tried  that  will  give 
him  a  chance." 

"  I  know  that,  I  know  that,  and  I  assure  you  I  value 
your  friendship,  Mr.  Grady,  and  your  sympathy.  So 
does  Patsey,  poor  boy,  and  it  won't  be  long  till  he's 
among  you  again." 

"  Well,  we  need  him  badly  enough,  for  there's  an  elec- 
tion coming  on,  presidential  at  that.  There  is  no  man 
who  can  steer  the  ship  like  Patrick  Maguire,  and  the 
longer  he  is  on  his  back  the  worse  it  is  for  the  party." 

Mrs.  Maguire  glowed  at  this  praise  of  her  husband. 
She  liked  to  think  of  him  as  indispensable  in  affairs  of 
state. 

"  I  am  always  willing  for  you  to  see  him  if  you  talk 
politics,  Mr.  Grady.  Now  a  regular  physician  would 
probably  say  it  would  do  him  harm,  but  I  know  better." 

An  idea  occurred  to  the  Mayor. 

"  Would  you  let  him  talk  to  a  small  delegation  from 
the  club?  We  are  all  anxious  about  the  situation  there 
— I  mean  the  polit:cal  situation  of  course — and  a  few 
words  from  Maguire  will  do  us  a  lot  of  good.  The 


552  The  Victors 

rank  and  file  would  obey  any  injunctions  that  they  knew 
came  direct  from  the  Boss,  which  they  wouldn't  pay  at- 
tention to  if  uttered  by  some  one  else." 

"  I  have  no  objection  at  all.  Let  me  know  when  they 
are  coming.  How  many  would  there  be  ?  " 

"  Not  more  than  three  or  four ;  two  probably  besides 
myself.  As  Mayor  of  the  city  I  snail  doubtless  be  asked 
to  head  the  delegation." 

"  Very  well.  Come  whenever  you  please.  And  now, 
Mr.  Grady,  will  you  do  me  a  favour  in  return?  Here  is 
a  little  volume,  small,  but  priceless.  You  can  easily  slip 
it  into  your  pocket.  Read  it  carefully,  trying  to  free 
your  mind  from  the  ancient  preconceived  notions  that 
still  have  such  a  hold  on  the  world.  When  you  have 
finished  that  book,  if  you  study  it  in  the  right  spirit,  you 
will  be  less  anxious  in  mind  about  the  condition  of  my 
husband." 

Grady  sighed  as  he  accepted  the  precious  volume,  so 
graciously  presented  to  him  by  the  imperturbable  little 
woman,  and  took  his  leave  with  foreboding  in  his  heart. 

Thus  the  plot  at  the  club  was  inaugurated.  The 
Mayor  proposed  that  Dr.  Marshall  and  a  specialist 
should  accompany  him  to  the  house  of  Maguire,  osten- 
sibly to  talk  politics,  actually  to  diagnose  the  case  and 
devise  means  for  the  patient's  betterment.  For  some 
time  medical  etiquette  stood  in  the  way.  The  practi- 
tioners refused  to  enter  any  household  surreptitiously, 
without  the  sanction  of  the  inmates,  but  the  Mayor  urged 
the  seriousness  of  the  case,  the  fact  that  both  physician 
and  specialist  were  personal  friends  of  the  s'ck  man ; 
that  they  were  sure  of  his  sanction  at  last,  when  he  re- 
covered, and  much  more  to  the  same  effect.  Nice  cus- 
toms, courtesy  to  great  kings,  and  medical  etiquette 
bowed  its  head  before  the  supreme  necessity  of  saving 
the  Boss.  So  the  Mayor  was  enabled  to  notify  Mrs. 
Maguire  that  on  a  stated  day  and  at  a  stated  hour  the 
political  delegation  would  wait  upon  her  husband  to 
learn  his  views  anent  the  situation,  city,  state  and  na- 
tional. 

When  the  trio  arrived  at  the  house,  the  servant  who 


"  With  their  tongues  doom  men  to  death  "  553 

admitted  them  said  that  Mr.  Maguire  was  awaiting 
them,  and,  on  being  ushered  into  his  presence,  the  Mayor 
was  relieved  to  find  him  alone,  stretched,  as  usual,  on 
the  couch.  Grady  had  dreaded  the  attendance  of  the 
wife,  and  was  pleased  to  note  her  absence.  The  ailing 
man  was  in  a  state  of  feverish  excitement.  He  had 
been  wearying  querulously  for  them,  counting  the  min- 
utes before  their  arrival,  impatiently  inquiring  why  they 
had  not  come,  and  now  the  effect  of  the  tension  was 
visible  on  his  face,  audible  in  the  quick,  panting  breath. 

"  Ah,  John,  it's  you  at  last.  I  thought  you  were  never 
going  to  get  here.  Surely  you're  late.  Who  have  ye 
brought  along  with  you?  Hello,  doctor,  it's  you,  is  it? 
I  didn't  recognise  you  at  first,  and  is  that  Dr.  Watson 
behind  you?  How  are  ye,  doctor?  Two  doctors  and  a 
lawyer!  Begobs,  a  man  must  be  in  a  bad  state  when 
such  a  deputation  calls  on  him.  '  Make  your  will,'  says 
the  lawyer,  and  '  Die  double  quick,'  says  the  two  doc- 
tors." 

All  this  was  boisterously  shouted,  Maguire  trying  to 
rise  on  his  elbow,  then  sinking  back  exhausted  on  the 
pillows.  His  enumeration  of  the  two  professions  and  his 
comments  thereon  seemed  to  throw  a  restraint  on  the 
company,  and  he  noticed  this  as  he  lay  there,  having 
given  up  the  effort  to  assume  a  sitting  posture. 

"  Ah,  well,  boys,  ye  mustn't  mind  me.  It's  only  me 
fun.  It's  a  poor  joke,  that's  all.  I've  the  greatest  re- 
spect for  learning,  as  John  here  knows,  having  had  lit- 
tle enough  of  it  myself.  I'm  mighty  glad  to  see  you,  an' 
that's  the  truth.  Sit  down  all  of  ye,  an'  tell  the  girl 
what  ye  want  to  drink.  I  think  we've  got  everything  in 
the  house  from  German  lager  made  in  St.  Looie  to 
Frinch  champagne  concocted  in  California,  so  if  ye  don't 
see  what  ye  want,  ask  for  it,  as  the  placards  in  the 
groceries  say." 

The  two  physicians  drew  up  chairs,  but  Grady  re- 
mained on  his  feet,  for  at  the  first  mention  of  the  word 
"  doctor  "  there  was  a  scarcely  perceptible  shaking  of 
the  curtains  which  divided  that  room  from  the  next, 
and  as  Maguire  finished  the  curtains  parted  and  re- 


554  The  Victors 

vealed,  standing  in  their  folds,  a  placid- faced,  white- 
haired  little  woman,  calm  and  collected,  a  gentle  smile 
on  her  lips  but  reproach  in  the  eyes  fixed  on  John  Grady, 
who  stood  uneasily  under  their  scrutiny.  Lottie  Ma- 
guire  came  forward,  silent  footed,  and  stood  at  the  head 
of  the  couch  without  a  word.  Her  husband's  huge  right 
hand  was  fumbling  aimlessly  among  the  pillows,  and 
the  woman  placed  her  dainty  white  palm  on  his.  Then 
over  the  little  hand  and  engulfing  it  instantly  closed  the 
great  fist.  The  touch  seemed  to  permeate  him  with  her 
own  restfulness.  She  smoothed  out  his  shaggy  mane, 
long  undipped.  The  ailing  man  bent  back  his  massive 
head  and  looked  up  at  his  wife,  peace  and  contentment 
coming  into  his  eyes  as  they  lingered  affectionately  upon 
her. 

Before  this  tableau  of  mutual  love  and  trustfulness  sat 
three  men  of  learning  and  resource,  baffled,  without  a 
word  spoken,  and  knowing  they  were  baffled. 

"  Ah,  Lottie,  dear,  I'm  glad  you've  come.  Dr.  Mar- 
shall, this  is  my  wife.  Dr.  Watson,  Mrs.  Maguire." 

The  lady  bowed  serenely  to  the  gentlemen. 

"  John  Grady  you  know  as  well  as  I  do.'' 

"  Yes,  I  know  Mr.  Grady,"  she  said  softly  in  accents 
sweet  and  tender,  but  with  a  significance  entirely  missed 
by  her  husband,  which  nevertheless  made  the  highest 
official  of  the  city  quail  before  her.  He  stood  a  con- 
victed traitor,  yet  conscious  of  loyalty  to  his  dearest 
friend,  which  knowledge  somehow  failed  to  solace  him. 

"  Well,  boys,  how  about  politics  ?  Is  everything  com- 
ing our  way,  or  are  we  going  to  be  snowed  under?  Dr. 
Marshall,  when  did  you  begin  to  take  such  an  interest  in 
elections  that  you  leave  your  work  to  come  on  a  delega- 
tion? Troth,  I  never  knew  you  to  do  that  before. 
You're  improving,  begobs.  I  always  looked  on  ye  as  a 
kind  of  Tammany  mugwump.  Ye  remember  what  a 
hill  of  a  fuss  ye  made  about  that  man  the  police  clubbed  ? 
Well,  thunder  and  turf,  ye  patched  him  up  all  right 
enough,  an'  he's  as  well  to-day  as  ever  he  was.  That's 
one  for  you.  It's  increased  your  reputation  wonder- 
fully, so  you  should  be  thankful  for  the  chance  ye  got, 


"  With  their  tongues  doom  men  to  death  "  555 

but  I  felt  as  badly  about  that  clubbing  as  any  one,  ex- 
cept the  boys  that  did  it,  an'  they're  sorry  in  gaol." 

"  I  never  blamed  you,  Mr.  Maguire,"  replied  Dr.  Mar- 
shall, mopping  his  brow. 

"  Patrick,"  said  the  Mayor,  boldly  cutting  in  now  that 
he  had  lost  all  the  lady's  respect,  and  things  couldn't  be 
worse — "  Patrick,  as  we  are  to  talk  politics,  I  think  it 
would  be  better  to  talk  it  alone.  Besides,  it  is  of  little 
interest  to  a  lady." 

Mrs.  Maguire  appreciated  the  cunning  move,  smiled, 
stroked  her  husband's  hand  and  said  nothing. 

"  Is  it  Lottie  ye  mean  ?  Sure,  John,  she's  as  much  in- 
terested in  politics  as  I  am." 

"  You've  told  me  yourself,  Pat,  a  dozen  times,  not 
to  talk  politics  before  Mrs.  Maguire." 

He  was  staking  the  friendship  of  the  Boss  on  this 
reckless  throw,  and  he  knew  it.  Sudden  fear  sprang 
into  the  eyes  of  the  invalid ;  a  reminiscence  of  something 
not  quite  grasped  by  a  strong  mind  weakened  through 
long  illness,  yet  intangibly,  evasively  recognised  as  ex- 
isting. What  was  the  flittering  bogy?  What  was  it  he 
did  not  want  his  wife  to  know?  There  was  something, 
but  it  had  slipped  his  memory  and  now  eluded  search, 
yet  the  fingers  of  remembrance  almost  grasped  its  ever- 
vanishing  skirts.  The  Boss  was  agonisedly  disturbed. 
He  struggled  to  sit  up,  breathing  painfully,  drops  of  per- 
spiration standing  on  his  brow.  His  wife  bent  over  him, 
tenderly  touching  her  lips  to  his.  The  fevered  man  re- 
lapsed on  his  pillow  as  if  the  brief  contact  were  magic. 
A  deep  sigh  escaped  him,  and  his  breathing  became 
more  regular.  The  bogy  had  been  conjured  away. 

"  Why,  John,  what  nonsense  ye're  talking,"  he  gasped. 
"  I  never  said  such  a  thing,  an'  ye  know  it.  He's  just 
trying  to  get  a  rise  out  of  us,  Lottie.  He  thinks  that's  a 
joke." 

The  woman  lifted  her  head  proudly,  a  glint  of  anger 
in  the  glance  she  now  bent  on  John  Grady.  Her  eyes 
said  to  him  as  plainly  as  words: 

"  Try  your  next  trick,  forsworn  man,  perfidious  friend, 
and  see  who  will  be  victor." 


556  The  Victors 

But  Grady  at  last  recognised  defeat. 

"  I  think  we  may  as  well  go,"  he  said. 

"  No,  no,"  cried  the  Boss  anxiously.  "  Whv,  we 
haven't  begun  talking  yet.  Watson  hasn't  opened  lis 
mouth  since  he  came  in,  except  to  take  a  sip  of  liqu;>r, 
John,  here,  is  gabbing  so  much  nobody  else  gets  a 
chance,  but  that  was  always  his  way.  You  mustn't  mind 
him." 

The  three  were  now  standing  up. 

"  Don't  let  them  go,  Lottie,  dear.  You  know  how 
much  I  wanted  to  see  them." 

The  lady  was  all  graciousness. 

"  I  beg  you  to  be  seated  again,  gentlemen.  It  is  in- 
deed true  that  both  my  husband  and  myself  have  looked 
forward  with  pleasure  to  this  visit,  and  although  you  are 
all  busy  men,  yet  I  know  you  will  not  refuse  my  re- 
quest." 

The  three  sat  down  helplessly,  as  if  mesmerised  by  her 
kindly  smile,  won  over  by  her  honeyed  words. 

"  Ah,  Lottie,  it's  you  that's  the  persuasive  angel,  the 
right  bower  with  no  joker  in  the  pack.  You  take  every 
trick,  my  dear.'' 

"  That  is  truer  than  he  imagines,"  murmured  Grady 
to  himself. 

"  Now,  as  I  was  saying,  Doctor,  when  John,  here,  in- 
terrupted me,  about  that  man  Monro ;  ye  see,  I  knew 
him  in  the  old  days  out  West,  and  I  was  mighty  sorry 
when  they  tried  to  massacre  him,  but  I  can  understand  it 
easily  enough.  He  has  a  high  and  lordly  way  with  him, 
an'  a  policeman,  as  they  build  'em  nowadays,  is  not 
going  to  stand  that.  A  policeman  reasons  as  naturally 
with  his  club  as  John  there  with  his  tongue.  They 
train  a  college  man's  tongue,  but  it's  the  policeman's 
right  arm  they  develop  in  his  school.  So  the  outcome's 
conceivable,  though  ye  can't  get  a  mugwump  to  under- 
stand it.  An'  now,  boys,  right  in  this  same  line  lies  a 
great  lesson  for  politicians.  Never  condescend.  Do  ye 
see  what  I  mean?  What's  this  the  good  book  says — 
truth  to  tell  I'm  not  as  well  up  in  it  as  in  the  daily  papers 
— but  I  know  the  run  of  it,  an'  it  will  pay  any  man  tp 


"  With  their  tongues  doom  men  to  death"  557 

get  a  kindly  priest  to  explain  it  to  him,  an'  then  act  on 
it,  as  I've  always  done.  Except  ye  become  like  one  of 
these,  why  ye  don't  cut  any  ice  at  all,  an'  that's  the  gist 
of  it.  If  I'm  popular  with  the  boys,  it's  because  I'm  one 
of  them,  an'  they  know  it.  I  meet  no  man  so  poor  but 
I've  been  poorer  meself,  an'  none  are  in  trouble  deeper 
than  I've  been  in,  years  agone.  I'm  not  like  a  schnail. 
I  don'tt  carry  me  fine  house  on  me  back  when  I  go  down 
to  the  slums.  I  may  be  Mr.  Maguire  on  Fifth  Avenue, 
but  I'm  plain  Pat  down  in  the  Bowery.  I  say,  Doctor,  do 
ye  remember  that  poor  little  divil  that  was  mangled  by  a 
cable  car  two  years  ago,  when  he  cut  across  the  thrack 
wid  a  bundle  of  papers  under  his  arm  ?  That  was  a  finer 
job  than  Monro's,  even,  for  there  was  hardly  enough  of 
the  unfortunate  beggar  left  to  splice  together  again,  an' 
ye  did  what  ye  could  because  I  asked  you  to,  an' 
wouldn't  take  a  cent.  Well,  the  other  day  that  poor 
creature  comes  thumping  up  the  avenue  on  his  crutch, 
an'  rings  at  the  front  door.  He  hands  to  the  servant  girl 
a  bit  of  a  bunch  of  flowers  that  he  had  squandered  his 
miserable  few  pennies  for,  an'  says,  '  Give  'em  to  de 
Boss,  an'  tell  him  we's  all  sorry  he's  off  his  nut,  an' 
hopes  he'll — an'  hopes — he'll  soon  be — on  his  feet  again." 

Maguire  buried  his  face  in  the  yielding  pillows,  his 
wife  with  flooded  eyes  tenderly  soothing  his  hair,  and  for 
some  moments  there  was  a  painful  silence.  The  sick 
man  recovered  his  calmness  with  an  effort. 

"  Be  God !  gentlemen,  I'd  sooner  have  that  bunch  of 
flowers  than  if  me  neighbour,  Vanderbilt,  came  t'  see  me 
wid  ten  thousand  dollars  in  his  fist;  an'  I'll  look  up  that 
kid  the  moment  I'm  out  again.  Ah,  well,  we're  all 
tarred  with  the  same  brush,  an'  a  little  kindness  don't 
hurt  any  man,  whether  he's  rich  or  poor.  But  this  has 
nothing  to  do  with  politics.  I  can't  get  a  word  in  edge- 
ways because  Grady's  so  anxious  to  hear  himself  talk. 
But  don't  you  be  worried  about  the  election.  That'll  be 
all  right  It's  dead  easy.  All  ye  have  to  do  is  to  play 
with  the  conscientious  man.  He  wants  to  vote  with  his 
party,  so  give  him  the  chance.  Between  the  conscien- 
tious republican  an'  the  conscientious  democrat,  splitting 


558  The  Victors 

the  conscientious  vote,  we  get  in  our  own  gossoon  who's 
got  some  sense  in  the  matter  of  government,  an'  every- 
thing's all  right.  That's  the  whole  secret  of  New  York 
politics.  Elect  a  Democrat  President,  if  it's  no  extra 
trouble,  but  sell  him  at  a  pinch  if  they'll  hand  over  the 
city  in  return.  The  same  with  the  Governor  of  the 
state,  although  he's  more  important  to  us  than  a  dozen 
presidents.  The  great  thing's  the  city.  Tell  the  boys  not 
to  forget  that.  An'  now,  gentlemen,  I'm  feeling  a  little 
done  up.  I've  enjoyed  all  ye've  said,  an'  I  want  ye  to 
come  again,  an'  come  often,  an'  bring  as  many  as  ye  can 
with  ye,  for  I  like  to  see  them,  an'  their  talk  does  me 
good.  I'll  be  down  at  the  club  next  week,  or  the  week 
after.  Good-bye,  an'  I  thank  ye  from  the  bottom  of 
me  heart  for  remembering  a  poor  soul  on  his  back. 
Give  my  love  to  the  gang." 

As  Grady  passed  out  he  saw  a  picture  that  remained 
long  in  his  mind ;  Maguire  prone  with  closed  eyes,  in  a 
state  of  exhaustion,  and  his  wife  bending  over  him,  her 
cheek  resting  against  his. 

There  was  consultation  after  consultation  at  the  club, 
but  all  futile.  For  once  Tammany  was  checkmated. 

A  week  after  the  visit  of  the  outwitted  delegation  the 
Mayor  was  coming  down  the  steps  of  the  city  hall  to  the 
carriage  that  awaited  him.  From  the  newspaper  offices 
poured  diverging  streams  of  newsboys,  as  if  a  shrapnel 
shell  bad  burst,  scattering  ragged  urchins  bearing  flut- 
tering sheets  of  evening  papers.  The  cry  that  went  up 
brought  the  Mayor  to  a  sudden  stoppage. 

"  Death  of  the  Boss!  All  about  the  death  of  Maguire! 
Boss  o'  New  York  dead!" 

Grady  snatched  a  paper  from  the  first  comer  and 
threw  the  boy  a  quarter.  The  front  page  was  mostly  bill- 
board headlines,  with  a  huge  rough  picture  of  Maguire. 
Only  one  paragraph  contained  real  news,  the  rest  was 
biography,  flung  in  at  the  last  moment,  ready  prepared. 

"  Patrick  Maguire,  Boss  of  New  York,  died  to-day  at 
1.35  in  his  residence  on  Fifth  Avenue.  As  our  readers 
are  aware,  Mr.  Maguire  had  been  ill  for  some  weeks." 

"  Drive  up  Fifth  Avenue ;  Maguire's.  As  quick  as 
you  can,"  said  Grady  to  his  coachman. 


"  With  their  tongues  doom  men  to  death  "  559 

In  front  of  the  house  the  Mayor  saw  a  squad  of  police, 
with  a  crowd  of  young  men  ineffectually  trying  persua- 
sion to  get  through  the  cordon  to  the  door.  The  ser- 
geant recognised  the  official  and  stepped  forward,  sa- 
luting. 

"  Is  it  true  that  Maguire  is  dead  ?  " 

"  No,  Mr.  Grady.  It's  just  them  lying  papers.  Mrs. 
Maguire  telephoned  to  headquarters  and  said  her  hus- 
band was  pestered  by  the  reporters,  so  he  sent  up  a 
squad.'' 

"  That's  right.     Have  you  seen  Mrs.  Maguire  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir ;  only  a  few  minutes  ago.  She  told  me  her 
husband  was  better  instead  of  worse,  and  she's  quite 
cheerful  about  him ;  if  all  this  fuss  don't  hurt  him.  Will 
you  go  in,  Mr.  Grady?'' 

"  I  think  I  will." 

Mrs.  Maguire  herself  opened  the  door  and  greeted 
him  pleasantly. 

"  I  saw  it  was  you,"  she  said,  smiling,  "  and  so  I  came 
down  myself,  thinking  you  were  not  going  to  come  in. 
Of  course,  it  is  only  the  reporters  I  want  to  keep  away." 

"  It  is  good  of  you  to  receive  me,  Mrs.  Maguire. 
There  was  a  rumour  down  town  that  Patrick — was 
worse." 

"  Oh,  yes ;  I  heard  of  it.  They  said  he  was  dead.  Ab- 
surd! Won't  you  come  in  and  see  him?  " 

"  If  I  may.     You  think  it  wouldn't  trouble  him  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no.     He  will  be  pleased." 

"  You  are  very  kind." 

She  closed  the  door  and  led  the  way  to  the  stairs, 
humming  a  tune  as  she  preceded  him  lightly  up  the 
steps.  Maguire  was  not  on  the  couch  where  Grady  had 
last  seen  him,  and  h's  wife  held  aside  the  curtains  of  the 
next  room,  saying : 

"  He  is  in  here." 

She  went  to  the  bed  and  flung  back  the  sheet. 

"  O  my  God,  my  God !  "  cried  Grady,  staggering 
against  the  wall.  There  confronted  him  the  closed-eyed 
Stirling  face  of  the  dead,  and  the  open-eyed  smiling  face 
of  the  living. 


560  The  Victors 

All  grossness  had  departed  from  the  still  features  of 
Maguire,  as  if  the  purging  fires  he  half  believed  in  dur- 
ing life  had  already  consumed  his  defects,  leaving  only 
the  broad  white  brow,  the  masterful  nose,  the  firmly 
moulded  chin,  the  large  kindly  mouth.  The  hair, 
brushed  back  and  flowing  on  the  pillow,  gave  a  leonine 
appearance  to  the  strong  face  and  massive  head ;  a  clas- 
sic bust  chiselled  in  marble  by  that  chief  of  sculptors, 
Death. 

Grady  turned  his  face  to  the  wall  and  sobbed  like  a 
child.  He  possessed,  to  comfort  him,  no  theory  that 
death  was  a  sham.  That  silent  white  mask  proclaimed 
it  terribly  real,  and  no  thought-wave  from  Boston  could 
obliterate  the  actuality. 

The  abandon  of  grief  in  a  grown  man  seemed  to  affect 
the  little  woman  against  her  stubborn  purpose.  The 
smile  became  fixed ;  difficult  to  maintain.  A  glance  from 
the  emotional  living  to  the  impassive  dead  made  her 
tremble  and  then  give  way.  She  sank  on  the  bed  beside 
her  husband. 

"  O,  Patsey,  Patsey,"  she  moaned,  her  cry,  the  forlorn 
wail  of  a  broken-hearted  woman.  But  the  grim  creed 
ultimately  triumphed.  Presently  she  gathered  herself  up 
and  confronted  the  man  who  had  turned  to  her.  Waver- 
ingly  she  replaced  the  broken  smile  and  gazed  at  him 
through  dewy  eyes. 

"  You  mustn't  think,  Mr.  Grady,"  she  gasped,  "  that 
this  momentary  failure — is — anything — against  my — my 
belief.  No,  no.  That  is  eternally  true,  though  human 
resolve  is  weak.  My — my  nerves  are  unstrung — that's 
all.  I've  been  watching  night  and  day — and  am  worn 
out.  My  dear  husband  is  with  me  now — as  he  has  been 
— as  he  always  will  be." 


CHAPTER   XI 

"FROM  CUPID'S  SHOULDER " 

WHEN  James  Monro  was  well  enough  to  resume  his 
position  in  the  office,  McAllister  announced  that  he  must 
be  off  again  (like  Flannigan,  he  added),  but  this  time 
he  would  take  Jim's  advice,  stay  in  one  place,  rest  and 
get  acquainted  with  his  wife.  Upon  this  plan  Monro 
bestowed  his  approval. 

"  Now,  Connie,"  cried  McAllister  on  reaching  the 
hotel,  "  Jim's  in  charge  again,  thank  goodness,  and 
I'm  free.  I  propose  we  go  off  and  supplement  that  ten 
minutes." 

"  What  ten  minutes  ?  " 

"Don't  you  remember?  At  Niagara  Falls,  of  course. 
We're  going  to  stay  there  in  the  biggest  suite  of  rooms 
in  the  biggest  tavern  the  town  possesses,  and  hang  the 
expense.  Yes,  by  smoke,  we'll  go  it,  and  hire  a  cab  now 
and  then.  Sixth  Avenue  is  making  lots  of  money." 

"  My  dear  Ben,  you  mustn't  think  I  want  you  to  desert 
all  your  duties  and  simply  play  comrade  to  me.  I  hope 
you  don't  imagine — '' 

"  Look  here,  Con,  no  nonsense.  Pack  up  and  don't 
give  your  husband  any  back  chat.  You're  too  much  ab- 
sorbed in  business  anyhow,  and  should  take  a  rest  every 
once  in  a  while.  We're  going  to  Niagara  Falls  to  pick 
up  the  remnants  of  a  lost  honeymoon — unless  you  would 
rather  go  somewhere  else." 

"  I    am  more  than  content  with  Niagara." 

"  Then  that  settles  it.     Get  ready." 

So  in  due  time  they  found  themselves  by  the  great 
cataract,  with  nothing  to  do  but  enjoy  each  day  as  it 
came,  Ben  developing  into  the  most  assiduous  courtier 
that  could  be  desired  by  the  most  exacting  woman. 
36  561 


562  The  Victors 

Constance  was  much  interested  in  hearing  of  Grace 
Van  Ness  and  once  or  twice  questioned  Ben  about  her, 
each  time  learning  something  he  had  forgotten  to  tell 
on  the  previous  occasions. 

"  Had  she  ever  met  Jim  before  she  called  on  you 
both  in  the  office  ?  " 

"  Oh,  bless  you,  yes.  It  was  Jim  who  knew  her  first, 
not  I.  He  met  her  in  Montreal,  down  in  North  Carolina, 
and  I  don't  know  in  how  many  other  places." 

"  Why  didn't  you  tell  me  that  before?  I  understand  it 
all  now." 

"  Understand  what  ?  " 

"  The  whole  situation." 

"  What  is  there  to  understand  ?  The  situation  is  sim- 
ple enough.  She  has  money  in  the  firm,  and  so  was 
anxious  about  it." 

"  No  doubt.  Did  she  threaten  to  shoot  those  police- 
men because  she  had  money  in  the  firm  ?  " 

"  Oh,  that.  No.  That  was  because  she  takes  great  in- 
terest in  good  government.  Her  father  is  a  member  of 
the  Goo-Goo  Club." 

Constance  laughed  merrily.  She  had  learned  to  laugh 
since  she  came  back  to  New  York. 

"  Why  Ben,  don't  you  see  the  girl  is  dead  in  love  with 
Jim?" 

"  Nonsense,  Con.  I'm  amazed  at  you.  That  shows 
how  you  women  never  do  justice  to  each  other's  motives. 
Miss  Van  Ness  said  to  me  that  women  had  no  votes ; 
that  men  were  responsible  for  the  bad  government  of 
the  city,  and  that  it  needed  a  woman  to  make  a  strike 
for  liberty ;  that  the  statue  of  liberty  in  the  harbour  is  a 
woman." 

"  And  you  believed  her  ?  " 

"  Certainly.    It  is  a  woman.    I've  seen  it." 

"  I'm  not  talking  of  the  statue,  but  of  Grace  Van  Ness. 
Do  you  imagine  that  any  woman  would  threaten  murder 
to  reform  a  city?  She  was  simply  leading  you  on  to  do 
what  she  wanted  done.'' 

"  Why,  of  course,  Joan  of  Arc  struck  for  the  liberty  of 
France,  and  she  had  no  lover." 


"  From  Cupid's  shoulder  "  563 

"  How  do  you  know?  It  would  be  just  like  the  stupid 
men  historians  to  omit  that  fact,  thinking  it  trivial,  not 
worth  mentioning,  whereas  it  would  be  the  keynote  of 
the  whole  affair." 

"  That's  so.    I  hadn't  thought  of  that." 

"Does  Jim  visit  her?" 

"Who?     Joan  of  Arc?" 

"  Ben,  stop  your  fooling.  I'm  interested  in  those  two, 
and  I  want  you  to  help  me." 

"  All  right,  Connie.  I  don't  think  he  does  visit  her, 
but  I'm  not  sure  about  it.  Jim  told  me  once  he  didn't 
care  anything  for  her." 

"  Oh,  that  settles  it.    Had  you  asked  him  ?  " 

"  Yes ;  the  day  she  was  in  the  office." 

Again  Constance  laughed  till  the  tears  came. 

"  Ben,  you  will  write  to  Jim  at  once,  and  you  must 
show  me  the  letter  before  it  is  sent.  Tell  him  that  you 
were  so  busy  you  forgot  to  thank  Miss  Van  Ness  for  all 
she  had  done  during  the  crisis,  so  he  must  call  on  her  im- 
mediately and  convey  the  gratitude  of  the  firm  in  the 
best  language  he  can  command.  Jim  is  the  most  bash- 
ful, self-depreciating  fellow  on  earth,  but  after  delivering 
him  into  her  hands,  if  she  isn't  clever  enough  to  do  the 
rest  she  deserves  to  lose  him." 

"  Lose  him !  Jim's  a  good  fellow,  but  the  loss  will  be 
his  rather  than  hers." 

"  That  is  a  man's  view.     You  write  the  letter." 

Thus  it  came  about  that  James  Monro  in  the  seclusion 
of  his  club  strove  to  compose  an  epistle  to  a  young  lady 
because  he  had  received  a  mandate  from  his  chief,  yet 
glad  of  the  excuse,  which,  if  McAllister  thought  valid, 
would  be  valid.  Finally  the  note  took  this  shape: 

"  DEAR  Miss  VAN  NESS — 

"  I  should  like  permission  to  call  on  you  that  I  may  con- 
vey the  thanks  of  Mr.  McAllister  and  myself  for  your 
great  kindness  during  my  recent  illness  and  the  crisis 
which  threatened  to  overtake  our  firm.  In  a  letter  to  me, 
Mr.  McAllister  says  that  but  for  your  advice  and  en- 
couragement he  would  not  have  had  the  heart  to  face 
the  difficulties  he  encountered. 


564  The  Victors 

"On  one  occasion  my  own  advice  was  not  well  received, 
but  time  has  proven  that  I  was  entirely  in  the  wron^. 
May  I  hope  that  you,  who  have  been  so  successful  where 
I  failed,  will  be  magnanimous  and  forgive? 

"  Yours  gratefully, 

"JAMES  MONRO." 

In  prompt  reply  to  this  the  young  man  received  a 
dainty  card,  which  he  ever  afterward  treasured: 

"  DEAR  MR.  MONRO — 

"  I  shall  be  delighted  to  have  you  come  and  take  tea 
with  me  after  the  English  fashion,  at  4.30  to-morrow 
(Thursday).  I  shall  bestow  upon  you  tea  and  forgive- 
ness in  the  same  room  as  that  in  which  your  advice  was 
so  churlishly  repelled  by 

"  Your  repentant  friend, 

"  GRACE  VAN  NESS." 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  that  Mrs.  McAllister  was 
quite  correct  in  her  surmise  that  if  one  woman  deliv- 
ered the  goods  another  could  be  trusted  to  take  care  of 
them — if  she  wanted  them. 

The  cordial  nature  of  the  missive  sent  a  thrill  of  hap- 
p'ness  through  the  reader.  That  she  should  sign  her- 
self his  friend  gave  promise  of  a  dearer  title,  as  he 
fondly  hoped,  a  result  to  be  achieved  after  long  waiting 
on  his  part  in  the  years  to  come,  and  much  diplomacy 
during  those  years. 

The  room  in  the  Van  Ness  house  to  which  he  was 
admitted  seemed  much  the  same  as  when  he  last  (as  he 
thought)  visited  it — the  actual  last  visit  was  not  real,  but 
part  of  his  dreams,  more  elusive  even  than  the  phantasy 
of  delirium.  But  his  hostess  was  not  the  cold  beauty  he 
had  left  enthroned  there ;  she  was  now  all  vivacity  and 
charm,  sparkling  and  friendly,  solicitous  of  his  ease. 

"  Not  that  chair!  "  she  cried,  "  this  one.  That  is  high- 
backed,  wooden  and  colonial.  I  don't  know  whether  to 
put  it  out  of  the  room  or  leave  it  here.  It  fascinates  me, 
and  sometimes  sends  a  little  shiver  through  me." 


"  From  Cupid's  shoulder  "  565 

He  looked  with  interest  at  the  discarded  chair. 

"  You  speak  of  it  as  if  it  came  from  a  haunted  house." 

"  Worse  than  that ;  it  is  haunted  itself.  A  ghost  sat  in 
it,  and  now  I  see  the  ghost  when  it  is  not  there.  When 
I  am  alone  in  the  dusk  the  chair  startles  me." 

"  Is  there  a  story  connected  with  it  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,  though  not  a  ghost  story  as  you  might  sup- 
pose, but  a  love  story.  Do  you  like  love  stories,  Mr. 
Monro?" 

"  I — I  don't  know.    I  haven't  much  time  for  reading." 

"  I'll  tell  you  this  one  some  day  or  rather  some  even- 
ing when  the  shadows  gather,  before  the  lights  are  lit, 
and  if  you  do  not  at  least  pretend  to  be  very  much  in- 
terested in  this  love  story  I'll  never  tell  you  another.  To 
me  it  is  the  most  absorbing  story  in  the  world." 

"  Oh,  I  shall  be  interested ;  you  may  be  quite  sure  of 
that.  Won't  you  let  me  hear  it  now  ?  " 

"  No.  It  requires  the  twilight.  And  the  night  should 
be  warm  and  still,  with  only  the  fountain  tinkling." 

"  Then  it  must  be  told  in  this  room?  " 

"  Of  course,  and  we  need  the  presence  of  the  chair." 

"  I  don't  care  now  whether  the  story  is  good  or  bad." 

"  Why  ?  " 

"  Because  I  know  I  am  to  come  here  again." 

"  I  hope  so.  How  do  you  take  your  tea — cream  and 
sugar?" 

"  If  you  please." 

"  I'll  never  need  to  ask  that  question  again.  I'll  re- 
member." 

She  laughed  in  a  quiet  way  to  see  his  growing  em- 
barrassment. 

In  truth  the  young  man  was  confronted  with  a  social 
problem  which  he  could  not  solve.  What  is  expected  of 
a  visitor  who  has  discovered  a  glaring  defect  in  the 
costume  of  a  charming  hostess?  Should  he  call  her  at- 
tention to  it  and  thus,  perhaps,  cover  her  with  confusion, 
or  should  he  remain  silent  and  allow  chagrin  to  be  his 
follower? 

Monro  found  himself  in  a  quandary.  Grace  Van  Ness 
was  dressed  exquisitely.  She  had  evidently  prepared 


566  The  Victors 

herself  with  thought  and  taste  for  his  coming,  but — 
but  by  some  mischance  her  sleeve  was  torn,  laying 
bare  the  white  shoulder  and  part  of  the  rounded  arm, 
and  here  she  was  chatting  and  laughing,  quite  ob- 
livious to  the  disaster.  As  she  moved  so  grace- 
fully about  the  room,  this  perfect  shoulder  occasionally 
gleamed  at  him,  and  he  caught  his  breath  like  a  votary 
who  has  a  glimpse  of  the  forbidden  shrine.  But  a  desper- 
ate courage  came  to  him.  If  he  spoke  not  now  she 
might  never  permit  him  to  set  foot  over  her  threshold 
again,  so  humiliated  would  she  be  when  she  discovered 
this  disarray,  knowing  she  had  laughed  and  talked  with 
him,  he  witnessing;  whereas  if  he  spoke  at  once  and 
she  took  offence  he  was  within  the  stronghold  to  beg 
forgiveness. 

"  O — Miss  Van  Ness — you  will  pardon  me — but  your 
dress  is  torn — there,  at  the  shoulder." 

She  was  standing,  and  when  he  spoke  turned  her  head 
to  look  at  the  rent,  her  clear-cut  exquisite  profile  etched 
against  the  window,  reminding  him  in  her  attitude  of  a 
marble  he  had  seen  of  a  girl  glancing  thus  at  a  butterfly 
that  had  alighted  on  her  arm. 

"  So  it  is,"  she  said  brightly,  without  the  slightest 
trace  of  embarrassment  in  her  tone;  he  thanked  his  star 
for  that,  and  breathed  again.  "  Well,  I  think  whoever 
did  the  damage  should  mend  it ;  don't  you  ?  " 

She  was  rose-tinted  as  she  faced  him  bravely. 

"  It — it  probably  caught  on  some  nail,"  he  ventured. 

"  I  see  that  I  am  bewildering  you.  That  comes  from  my 
liking  for  the  story  I  mentioned.  But  let  us  get  down 
to  practical  things.  Here  is  a  pin.  You  see  I  cannot 
reach  the  rent.  Will  you  oblige  me  ?  " 

He  rose  and  came  to  her,  attempting  the  task  set  to 
him,  his  fingers  trembling  as  they  touched  the  firm 
shoulder. 

"  Be  careful !  ''  she  warned  him,  as  breathless  as  him- 
self. 

"  Lord !  I  have  need,"  he  cried,  whereat  she  whisked 
herself  free  and  retreated,  leaving  him  standing  there,  his 
eyes  aglow.  "  You  pretend  not  to  know  where  responsi- 


"  From  Cupid's  shoulder  "  567 

bility   rests.     Those   hands   so   clumsy   at   repairs   were 
swift  to  reduce  me  to  rags." 

He  stared  at  her,  unable  to  speak.  Their  positions  in 
that  room  were  now  reversed,  he  thinking  her  demented, 
as  on  the  previous  occasion  she  had  thought  him. 

"  I  put  on  this  torn  sleeve  purposely.     I  wished  to 
know — if  you — if  it  brought  any — reminiscence  to  your 
mind.     Do  you  mean  to  say  you  do  not  remember  that 
you  came  to  me — to  this  room — when  you  were  hurt  ?  " 
"  I  came  here  ?     Good  God — came  here — insane  ?  "  * 
"  You  were  sane,  it  seemed  to  me." 
"  Into  this  room  ?     Then — it  was  not  all  a  dream  ?  " 
"  Not  unless — waking — you  wish  it  so." 
"  Came  to  you  !    What — what  did  I  say  ?  " 
"  You  said — Oh,  what  do  you  think  you  said?  " 
"  If  they  battered  me  until  but  a  remnant  of  thought 
remained,  that  remnant  was  filled  with  you.   If  my  heart 
still  throbbed,  you  owned  every  oulsebeat.     If  enough 
of  life  were  left  me  to  crawl  to  your  feet  and  breathe 
but  four  words  when  I  fell  there,  those  words  must  have 
been,  '  Grace,  I  love  you.' ' 
"  That's  what  you  said — Jim." 

Then  he  did  exactly  what  he  had  done  before;  kissed 
her  on  the  lips  and  on  the  bare  rounded  shoulder. 


THE   END. 


. 


